A Stranger's Wisdom
by WolvenChild
Summary: Sasuke has been training with Orochimaru for three years. A mysterious girl appears one day. Who is she? Why does she trust Sasuke? And what does she know about his future that even he does not!
1. A Discovery

Ch. 1

THUD

"Get up Sasuke! You aren't this weak…" Sasuke glared up at Orochimaru. He had been training with him for overthree years now, and his power had grown immensely, but Orochimaru could still beat him without ever breaking a sweat. As Sasuke pulled himself back up onto his feet, Orochimaru flew at him again. Sasuke crouched down, waiting for the older man to hit him, but the hit never came. Orochimaru had stopped as one of his Sound-nins walked into the training room.

"What do you want?" The ninja bowed low, looking nervous for having to interrupt Orochimaru.

"Sorry Orochimaru sir, but there's a disturbance outside-

"Why do you come to me with such a trivial matter? The others are taking care of it, aren't they?" The ninja of the Sound began to look uncomfortable as he spoke.

"That's just it Orochimaru sir… All of the guards have been defeated… And as far as we can tell, there was only one attacker…" Orochimaru frowned, then pushed pastthe ninja to reach the outer balcony of his hideaway, Sasuke following. The sight that greeted their eyes when they reached the outer deck made Orochimaru snarl, and Sasuke's eyebrows rise.

"They've all been knocked out…" Orochimaru whipped his head around to glare at Sasuke when he made this remark, then turned to look back at his ninjas, all unconscious, with one missing an arm. He saw a shadow move in the trees and jumped down to the ground.

"Heh… Come Sasuke, this will be good training for you…" Sasuke jumped down beside Orochimaru, his attention on a trembling leaf that clung to a bush.

"Just what is it that you would like me to do, Orochimaru?" Orochimaru nodded towards the bush with his head. Sasuke looked at him, something close to resentment, but not quite, just underneath the surface of his eyes. He turned to the bush, and as Orochimaru watched, he rushed at the figure concealed there. Orochimaru began to smirk, waiting to hear the sounds of Sasuke's fists pounding into flesh, but the sound never came. Sasuke had stopped suddenly, frozen in his attack, his eyes wide. Orochimaru frowned. His future body should know better than to disobey him.

"Sasuke! Why did you stop?" Sasuke ignored Orochimaru, which made him snarl. The insolent little brat should be grateful for being allowed to train with him. He stalked forwards, ready to punish Sasuke, but he stopped as well when he saw what had defeated all of his men.

A girl, about 15, the same age as Sasuke, sat shivering in the bushes, the missing arm of one of Orochimaru's Sound-nins in her hands, and blood running from the corners of her mouth. She was a ragged little thing, all skin and bones, with long, tangled hair too covered with grime to discern the real color, that reached the ground in her crouched position. She had the oddest eyes as well. They were a deep purple color, but at the same time, if one stared closely enough, hints of gold could be seen. For all that her physical condition was poor, her cloths were fairly new, and covered her completely. In fact, the only part of her body not covered by some sort of cloth was her face, having gloves on her hands, and a black turtle neck, and a pair of long pants on.

Sasuke and Orochimaru were still staring at the girl when she noticed them. She had turned to wipe her mouth on her sleeve and caught them watching her. Her eyes filled with panic, and she streaked out of the bush, trying to pass them. Sasuke started as Orochimaru swing at what seemed to be an empty spot of air and hit something. The girl then appeared on the ground, knocked unconscious by the blow.

_A-amazing…_ Sasuke thought as he stared at her gaunt frame. _This skinny girl was so fast that I couldn't see her…_ He made to bend down and examine her further, but halted as Orochimaru grabbed his arm in a painful grasp.

"Don't touch her…" Sasuke glared at him, then shook his hand off to bend down. As he looked at her, his face paled. Now that he was closer, he could see that her legs had been crushed by some huge object at one point. They were bluish-black around small lumps where bone fragments pushed against the skin, and some pieces had made small red cuts.

"And still she ran like the wind…" Sasuke shook his head as he muttered this to himself. Orochimaru snapped his head down to glare at Sasuke.

"What did you say?" Sasuke stood up next to him, regarding the girl with thoughtful eyes.

"I said that she still ran like the wind, even with two crushed legs Orochimaru." Orochimaru frowned a little more, and then looked closer at the girl, so that he could indeed see the injuries. He snorted.

"It's pitiful, that all of my men were defeated by one starving, injured little bitch… Oh well. I'll have on of the others take care of this mess." He nudged her body as he said this, and Sasuke glance over at him.

"You mean to kill her…" Orochimaru looked at him, a cruel smirk on his face.

"Of course. What use is a girl, unless it's to have a little fun with them..." Sasuke frowned a little as he looked back down at the girl's broken form. He didn't always approve of his teacher's methods, but he couldn't deny that he was growing stronger.

_Besides, it's not like I know this girl anyways…_ Sasuke turned to leave, but stopped as something caught his eye. The girl's eyes had just flashed open, then shut again just as quickly. He turned back to her, and as he watched, the girl opened her eyes just a fraction, so that she could see what was happening. Sasuke had to admire her in his mind. It took much discipline to slow one's heart and breath, and make it look as though they were unconscious, and this girl was so skillful at it that even Orochimaru hadn't noticed. Sasuke knew he wouldn't have if he hadn't caught the girl opening her eyes. Sasuke looked up at Orochimaru as he turned and began to walk away, his mind arguing with itself.

_She's obviously been taught by someone… I should keep her alive, and see what else she can do._

_Are you stupid! Where is there room for a skinny, dirty, injured and probably annoying girl who will most likely be a pain in the ass as soon as she gets better?_

_You just say that because you think all girls are like Sakura._

_I DO NOT! Besides, if I kept her alive, I'd have to take care of her, protect her, and I don't know the type of first aid that she'll need… Not to mention that I don't know anything about girls; and there's no room for a dependant… I have to focus on becoming stronger so that I can beat…him…_

_Liar! You're just afraid of what Orochimaru would do to you if you said he shouldn't kill her._

_…_

_I thought so. So MAKE SOMETHING UP! He said something about girls only being good for…that…so make up an excuse…_

"OROCHIMARU!" Orochimaru stopped, halfway back to the hideaway, and turned to glare at Sasuke, who was still standing next to the girl.

"What are you doing Sasuke! Hurry up! We must continue your training… Make you stronger."

"Let me have her…"

"What?"

"I said let me have her… I want her, to…have some fun with…" Orochimaru turned and regarded Sasuke carefully. After a few seconds, he shrugged, smirked then turned around and began to walk again.

"Fine, but you're responsible for her. You have an hour and a half to get her settled in your chambers, then training commences again. Oh, I almost forgot… Don't give her a name…" Sasuke frowned at his back as he walked into the building. He then turned back to the girl, whose eyes were wide open and glaring at him. He sighed.

_What did I just get myself into?_ He bent down and picked up the girl, watching her carefully for any signs of her attacking. All that she did was wince when he jostled her legs, and so he carried her inside.

* * *

As soon as Sasuke had closed the door behind him, the girl tried to escape through an open window. Sasuke caught her this time, even if it was only barely. He had grabbed her wrist, and she immediately turned retaliating with a punch to his face.

THWAP

Sasuke let himself get hit, then turned his head back to the girl when he realize that she wasn't going to hit him again. She was standing still now, breathing hard, and her eyes and face showed no emotion. After shutting the window, he let her wrist go. The girl immediately jumped away from him, landing on his bed by accident. He sighed again, but didn't move any closer to the girl as he spoke.

"You can relax… I'm not going to do anything to you, except make sure that you get better. You should be on your knees really, thanking me for saving you…" He took one step towards the girl and got a gob of spit hurled into his eye for it. He grimaced as he wiped away the slime.

"Fine, I guess you won't let me closer… Look, your legs are severely injured, and they need first aid. I'm going to go get a hea-

"No." Sasuke stopped at the door and turned back sharply at the raspy voice.

"What?"

"I s-said n-no…I n-need, outside…e-earth…" Sasuke scrutinized the ragged girl. It was obvious that her voice had not been used in a long time.

"So you can speak… Very well. Where outside?"

"Anywhere…" Sasuke just shrugged, then picked her up again, for he got the feeling that she would not, or could not walk.

_How strange… Just a few minutes ago she was so fast I couldn't see her when she ran… Now, it seems that she can barely talk, let alone walk. Who the hell is this girl?_


	2. A Deepening of Curiosity

Ch. 2

Sasuke set the girl down onto the earth, catching the way she winced as her legs hit the ground. He stepped back, and as he watched, the girl took her hands and put them palms face-down onto the soil. Sasuke's eyebrows rose, for the girl's hands had begun to glow golden, and she was chanting something softly. He jumped slightly when small vines began shooting out of the ground around the girl. As he stared, the small vines punctured the skin of her legs, causing the girl to screw her face up against the pain.

The vines were shifting under her skin, writhing, and Sasuke could tell it was painful, whatever they were doing, for the girl had a slick layer of sweat covering her forehead now. After what seemed to be hours, although it was just thirty minutes,the vines withdrew from the girl's legs. She just sat there, breathing hard and shivering slightly. Sasuke walked back over to her cautiously, and bent down in front of her, to look closer at her legs.

_ What the! Th-those vines… They put her bones back together…_ This was indeed the case, as her legs were no longer deformed. In fact, besides the puncture wounds left by the vines, the girl's legs seemed perfectly normal. Her legs moved, and Sasuke jumped, startled back from his own thoughts. The girl was trying to stand. She reached a crouched position, and then fell backwards, Sasuke catching her just before her head hit the ground. He looked down at the girl cradled in his arms, and realized that her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in a rhythmic fashion.

_ Heh… She fell asleep trying to stand up. I'm not surprised… That…whatever it was she did must've taken extreme amounts of chakra… _He slid his other arm under her legs, and carried the sleeping bundle back up to his chambers.

* * *

"Satu…" Sasuke watched the girl shake her head.

"Kaze…" Again, the girl's head shook. Sasuke glared at her. She had been confined in his chambers for about a week now, and after eating voraciously, her body weight was almost back to normal. He was on a short rest from training, and, having finally gotten fed up with calling her 'girl' he was trying to figure out a name for her, ignoring Orochimaru's warning. He had been laying out different names for several minutes now, and the girl shook her head at each.

_ Hmm… What other names could I try… I know! How about_

"Aori…" The girl moved to shake her head no again, but froze halfway through the action. A strange look passed through her eyes, but it was gone before Sasuke could figure out what it was. Ashe watched with raised brows, the girl stiffly nodded.

"Aori huh. All right then. When we are in here, I'll call you Aori. Just be sure to remember that if Orochimaru or one of his ninjas walks in I'll be referring to you as 'girl' or 'pet'." Aori just looked up at Sasuke with emotionless eyes. He huffed, slightly frustrated. In the week she had been around him, Aori had cometo tolerate Sasuke. Frustratingly for Sasuke, since the first day where she had demanded that she be taken outside to heal her legs, she had not spoken a word. In fact the most sound that she ever made was the steady huff-puff of her breathing. No matter what Sasuke did to provoke her, she never made another sound. He had given up eventually, and just let her stay silent now. He was also slightly miffed that she had refused numerous times to wash herself off. Her hair and face were still covered with grime, and to be honest… She stunk!

"I have to go back to training now… I'll send up some food for you." Sasuke turned to leave, but was stopped by a gentle hand grabbing his wrist. He turned back to find that Aori was holding him back.

"Look Aori, I've got to go and train… Orochimaru will be mad if I'm late, and I want to get stronger anyways…" He opened his mouth to say more, but Aori held up one gloved finger, as if to say _Wait…_. She moved away from him, over to the bed, and grabbed one of the sheets, pointing to her clothes, and then back to the dark blue sheet. Sasuke growled slightly.

_I don't have time for this…_

"Yeah, that's a sheet, and those are the clothes I found you in… So?" He was surprised to hear a small growl issue from the girl's throat, although she showed no other expression. Aori shook her head, pointed at her clothes again, than pantomimed cutting up the sheets and sewing the pieces together. _Cut-Sew cloth- New clothes..._Sasuke frowned slightly.

"You want cloth, to make new clothes with…" Aori's mouth turned up slightly at the corners and she nodded. Again, this surprised Sasuke. Aori never showed a lot of emotion, and in the past 30 seconds she had been frustrated and pleased, well sort of...

"I'll see what I can do, but don't expect Orochimaru to comply…" He turned and walked out of his chambers, snapping the door shut behind him.

_Just great! Now Aori wants to sew… And I have to be the one to ask Orochimaru for the cloth…_

He sighed, then headed back to the training area.

* * *

Sasuke stepped back, panting. He had been sparringnon-stop with Orochimaru for the past four hours, and had yet to ask him about Aori's request for cloth. So he was shocked indeed when Orochimaru brought the subject of the girl up.

"So my apprentice… Have you been enjoying you new toy?" Sasuke whipped his head up, about to make a sharp remark, then remembered that he was supposed to be her 'master'.

"Yes Orochimaru, indeed I have. But her clothes are not suitable for someone who is _my_ toy. I request some cloth, so that she can make herself some new attire." Orochimaru frowned a little at Sasuke's request, but nodded and turned, beckoning Sasuke to follow him down a hallway.

"Of course Sasuke… And seeing as she is your pet, we shall give her the best of the best…" He stopped in front of a plain door, opening it and walking in, Sasuke just behind him. Orochimaru snapped his fingers, and lights popped into existence, revealing the contents of the room.

Sasuke raised his eyebrows slightly, for he was surrounded by yards and yards of the highest quality silks. He turned his unspoken question to Orochimaru, who smirked.

"What can I say. I have a passion for finery. You may take what ever colors you want, and however much you want… I will send a ninja with sewing materials up with you." Sasuke proceeded to turn his attention to the many-colored silks in front of him.

_ Ach! Which colors do I choose? I haven't a clue what Aori likes!_

He turned to ask Orochimaru if he could go and get the girl, and bring her to choose, but stopped, staring. Aori had just walked through the door, making Orochimarufocus his gaze on heras she passed him to examine the silks. Orochimaru turned his gaze to Sasuke, glaring.

"I didn't know that you weren't keeping her locked in your quarters…"

"But, I was! I must have forgotten to lock the door. But does it really matter? I don't think that she will do much harm." Orochimaru looked back over at the girl, who was thoughtfully running her gloved hands over the silks.

"I suppose not… Very well. She may be allowed to roam, as long as she does not interfere with my men. She may watch you train, if she pleases, but she cannot interrupt. And she will be responsible for whatever happens to her inside of my domain." Sasuke nodded in understanding, then turned when he felt a small tap on his shoulder. He turned to see that Aori looking at him pointedly, using his body to block her face from Orochimaru. He glanced back at Orochimaru, then reached up to run his fingers along her jaw bone.

_ Such soft skin…_

"Have you found what you require, my pet?" He had to admit, the girl was a good actress. As soon as he had begun to talk, she immediately molded herself into the part of a subservient slave. Her usually emotionless eyes took on a slightly fearful look, as she bent her head down a little and nodded.

"Show me…" Sasuke followed the girl over to the wall, where she pointed straight up to two shelves. One was filled with silks that were a deep honey-color, the other stuffed with russet-colored silk. Sasuke nodded, and almost immediately two Sound-nins had brought down three bolts of each color. Aori looked back at Sasuke, playing the part perfectly by looking as if she was asking permission. He nodded again, and the girl stepped forward to take the silks from the ninjas. She stepped back, and when Sasuke turned and beckoned her with one finger, she followed, the perfect picture of an obedient puppy. They walked past Orochimaru and found their way back to Sasuke's chambers.

Once he had shut the door behind him, Sasuke turned back towards Aori, regarding her carefully.

"Who taught you to act that well? And how did you get out of here! I _know_ that I locked the door..." His eyes followed Aori as she gently laid her expensive bundle down onto her bed in one of the smaller rooms of Sasuke's chambers. She turned to look at him, then shrugged her shoulders slightly. Sasuke gave an exasperated huff.

"Is that all you'll ever do? I know you can talk, so why don't you? It would make things a lot easier for both of us you know…" He continued on in this manner for a few more seconds, Aori calmly standing there, staring at him with a slightly amused expression on her face. When he finally ran out of breath, she came to stand in front of him, close enough that his face turned light pink. She reached up, and with gloved hands brought his face down to hers, turning his head at the last moment so that he could feel her breath tickling his hear. His face had turned an even darker shade of pink by this point.

"A-Aori! W-what're you-

"Maybe I don't want to speak." She let his head go then, and shoved him out the door, almost catching his nose when she snapped the door shut...

* * *

For the next three days, Sasuke barely saw Aori. She came out to eat or when she needed to relieve herself, but that was it. Otherwise she was locked away within her, or rather one of Sasuke's smaller rooms, snipping and sewing away. He didn't mind really. He was extremely focused on his training, and the only time he was in his chambers for more than half an hour was when he and Orochimaru retired for the night.

So, when he walked into his chambers late on the third night, he was surprised to see the door which Aori had locked herself behind wide open, and good smells wafting from the kitchen. He hadn't figured that she could cook.

_ I guess it makes sense though… The ninjas couldn't always bring her prepared foods… She must've made it herself…_

He turned to brace himself against the door as he slipped of his shoes, then spun around as he heard a whisper of cloth behind him. His eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. Aori was standing in front of him with a knife in her hands, and she looked completely different.

Her old clothes were gone, the shirt having been replaced by a russet silk dress, long-necked and sleeveless, that went from ankles to the bottom of her chin. It had long slits up the sides, from hem to hip. It fitted her just right, allowing her lithe form to be shown off, but the slits up the sides made it easy to move in. Under the dress, the honey colored silk had become a matching pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt. The pants also were fairly snug, loose enough to not restrict movement, but with no extra fabric to get in the way. She had new gloves too, made from the scraps of the russet silk, that went under her shirt and went about three-quarters of the way to her elbows, and she had found a pair of black slippers somewhere, and they were pulled on over russet socks.

It wasn't this that was the most shocking to Sasuke though. It was the fact that she had taken a bath. All the dirt and grime was gone, revealing sun-kissed skin and deep red hair. Her cheeks were rosy, and her lips, though not pouty, were full and soft, with a pinkish tinge to them. The only thing that looked at all out of place on her body was a vertical tattoo on her cheek. It was Japanese, but slightly altered, just enough that Sasuke could not discern the meaning of the word.

By this time, Sasuke had been gawking at her for over a minute. Aori shook her head slightly, that small upturn of the corners of her lips present again and quietly cleared her throat, snapping Sasuke out of his thoughts. Shestared athim, and he gave her a small grunt.

"You look…cute." Aori quirked her mouth in that small grin again, then disappeared back into the kitchen as an oven timer went off. Sasuke followed her into the kitchen, and again he was amazed. The solitary table in the center of the kitchen was covered with all sorts of delicacies. Everything from chawanmushi to yakizakana was laid out upon the table, and its legs were groaning with the sheer weight of the food.

"You… But… Where did you learn to DO all of these things Aori!" Sasuke stared at the girl, who had taken a seat at the table. She just stared back at him, then shrugged, then waved her arm at the other seat before starting to shove food into her mouth. Sasuke stared at the feasting girl for a few more seconds before sitting down.

_ What is her story? I begin to think that there is nothing else that she can do to surprise me, then she goes and pulls off a stunt like this? Where does Aori come from?_

SMACK!

Sasuke was jolted out of his thoughts as a piece of fish hit his cheek. He pulled it off of his cheek and turned to see Aori eating as though nothing had happened, with a slight difference. There was a small crinkle about her eyes, as if she was laughing inside. She stopped to stare at him, a helping of rice half-way to her mouth, and watched as he popped the fish into his mouth. His eyebrows rose slightly, and he turned to her after finishing the morsel.

"That tastes good…" He began to load up a plate in front of him with anything that he could reach.

_ It's not like I'll ever admit it to her, but she's much better at cooking than I am…_

Aori just smiled her small smile again and went back to her food.


	3. A Secret Revealed

Ch. 3

_Sasuke's eyes fluttered open and he sat up slowly, looking around. He was in a barren andempty desert, with only the sand and the sun to keep him company. He frowned, standing up and turning around slowly, looking for a landmark._

_"Where am I?" His voice echoed out over the sands, but no answer came to him. He spied a small form off in the distance, and began to head towards it. When he himself was barely more than a small dot, a wind picked up, sweeping away his imprints in the sand, blotting out all traces that somebody had been there._

_Sasuke stopped, bending over and panting hard. He had been walking for what seemed like hours, and the far-off shape was only a little bit bigger. _

_"K'so… How long is this going to take?" He straightened back up and began to stagger towards the shape again. He had not been walking for long before he felt a terrible presence behind him. Terrible and familiar. His eyes narrowed as he whipped around, and there he was, his mangekyou sharingan spinning menacingly._

_"Itachii… What do you want?" The older man chuckled._

_"I'm glad to see that we are still on first-name terms, little brother…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed, and he rushed at his brother._

_"Shut UP! I'LL KILL YOU!" Itachii's chuckling turned into outright laughter as Sasuke hurtled towards him. He was still laughing when Sasuke fell through the sand, and down into a darkness so powerful, so suffocating that even Sasuke cried out in fear. His eyes widened as his hands when to his throat. No sound had come out of his mouth. The blackness absorbed everything, even his thoughts, everything that was, except for one menacing voice, whispering constantly into Sasuke's ears. It was too much for Sasuke, and he curled himself into a ball, tearsbeginning to runfrom his eyes as he clamped his hands over his ears, but nothing could drown out the whispers._

_**"You think that you're worth something, you little brat? Well you're wrong! You're nothing compared to Itachii! You should've never been born! You'll never defeat Itachii! You're worthless!"  
"Worthless!"**_

_**"Worthless!"**_

_**"You're worthless!"** _

_Sasuke curled up tighter with each word spoken, as though a thousand needles were piercing his stomach, his heart, his very soul. Though he couldn't speak, his mouth moved, forming the word 'No' over and over. The darkness moved closer, beginning to take over the teenager's body itself. His eyes snapped open, and he turned his hands frantically to his feet, trying to rip the dark presence away. But the more he ripped, the faster it grew. Soon, it had covered up to his elbows, and he couldn't even cover his ears from the harsh whispers anymore. He floated there, tears falling unabashedly from his eyes, the whispers echoing in his head as the darkness inched up his neck. It had reached his chin, and he just lay there now, eyes open and blank, his mouth forming the word 'worthless' again and again. The darkness had covered his chin, and was about to plunge into his mouth, but a pinprick of light appeared suddenly, shining gold onto Sasuke's mouth, making the darkness move back. The golden light grew brighter, stronger, and the darkness receded farther from the boy's body. But Sasuke never noticed, still mouthing 'Worthless'. The light could sense this, and grew urgent, growing even faster then before. It grew larger, and larger, swallowing the darkness, and, when it reached Sasuke, crushing the whispers. The light surrounded the boy carefully, as if he were a new-born babe, and a song began to echo from somewhere, soft and sweet._

"Come little wolfling  
Come now sweet wolfling  
The moon is shining  
The stars are singing

Let them embrace you  
and hold you tight  
Let yourself be surrounded by night

A new dawn awaits you  
Silent and sweet  
Come now tiny wolfling  
Come prance on your feet"

_Sasuke slowly began to become himself again, the song flowing around him all the time. His tears stopped, his mouth ceased to move, and his eyelids slid down as he let himself fall asleep to the song, the light drawing him closer and closer to its core. It got to the point where one strand of his hair just barely brushed against the core, then…_

Aori slowly drew her hand back from Sasuke's sweaty head. She carefully moved from his bed, slipping her glove back onto her hand. She turned to look at the now calm figure of Sasuke once more, before sliding his door shut. Walking over to the window, she opened it and jumped up onto the roof. Alighting carefully, she looked around for any of the tall man's stupid ninjas, and seeing none lay down, gazing up at a full moon. There was a slight frown on her face. It worried her that Sasuke was having such dreams… It meant that his mind was less stable than most people thought. He was still just a fifteen year old, for all that he acted like he was 20. Aori shivered slightly, although the night was warm. Sasuke's dreams were worse than most too. If she hadn't intervened when she had, he would've gone into a coma…

She tensed slightly as she felt a soft stroke against her cheek, then recognized the chakra and relaxed. A bodiless voice, feminine and eons old, whispered into her ear.

_"Rest easy small one… We shall make sure that he is all right…"_ Aori smiled slowly and let her eyes close, falling asleep to a bodiless voice singing a ghostly song.

_"Come little wolfling __Come now sweet wolfling __The moon is shining __The stars are singing…"_

* * *

Months had passed, and Sasuke had not had another nightmare since Aori's intervention. He had been training diligently, and Orochimaru was growing happier and happier with the passing of each day. Sasuke was in fairly good spirits as well. Aori had been coming to watch him train with Orochimaru lately, and he had found her presence calming, for some unknown reason. He could always spar better when she was around. Orochimaru had noticed this as well, and so he had stopped giving the girl glares when she came to watch. 

Today, Orochimaru was especially happy. It had been about four years since Sasuke had come to train with him, and his power had increased immensely. He did not regret waiting to take over the boy's body. The wait had been worth it. But today, today was the day he decided that he would take Sasuke's body.

"Good Sasuke, very good. You have improved greatly. In light of this achievement, I am going to allow you to have the rest of the afternoon off." Sasuke frowned.

"What if I don't want to have the afternoon off?"

"That's just too bad, because you do. Go have a nice fuck with your pet if you want exercise…" Aori, who had been watching Sasuke spar, glanced over at Orochimaru, hatred in her eyes. She had gotten up from her seat in the rafters of the room and was waiting for Sasuke by one of the many doors that lead into other parts of Orochimaru's domain. Sasuke too had turned to glare at Orochimaru.

"She isn't my pet!" Orochimaru paused at the door he was opening, turning back to Sasuke with raised eyebrows.

"What did you just say?"

_K'so!_

"I-I said that she isn't my pet… She's my…er…my slave…" Orochimaru snorted, a smirk forming on his lips.

"Pet, slave, what's the difference? She's still just a fuck toy…" Sasuke glanced over at Aori from the corners of his eyes. She was standing as stiff as a statue, her hands in fists and her whole body shaking from rage. Sasuke swore quietly too himself. He couldn't let Orochimaru see that she wasn't in the least bit submissive. He would relish in breaking her.

He walked over and quickly grabbed Aori's upper arm. She spun her head to look at him, and seeing some sort of look in his eyes, she calmed, making herself look afraid.

"You make a good point Orochimaru… Come, my slave. I wish to have a little fun." To finish the effect, Sasuke proceeded to run his tongue along Aori's ear. She shuddered and Sasuke couldn't tell if it was real or part of her act. Orochimaru snorted lightly.

"You're supposed to wait until you're in your rooms, Sasuke..." Sasuke turned,glared at Orochimaruand then made a show of dragging Aori from the training room, leading her back to his chambers.

Back in his rooms, Sasuke sat down on his bed, huffing slightly.

"That was too close Aori! You have to keep your feelings under better control around Orochimaru, or he'll figure it out and take you away for his personal pleasure." Aori had sat down a few feet away, just staring at Sasuke with slight annoyance in her eyes as she rubbed at the ear that he had licked. He grimaced at her.

"Well what else was I supposed to do? Kiss you!" Before he had finished speaking Sasuke realized that he had said the wrong thing. Aori's face had gone deathly pale, and she disappeared with a slight displacement of air, the only sign of her departure the window banging open. Sasuke blanched.

_K'so! I haven't seen her do that since when I first met her! How does she do it? Why did she do it?_ Sasuke stood up and walked over to the window. Aori was nowhere to be seen. He growled slightly.

"I guess I should go find her…" So saying, he jumped out the window, landing on the ground.

* * *

Aori alighted on the roof, her hands in tight fists. Her jaw was clenched tight, and she began to pace back and forth along the roof. How could he! Stupid Sasuke! He just didn't understand! He couldn't… Aori stopped pacing, her eyes widening at her discovery. He couldn't understand… Her lips pulled up in a feral snarl and she turned, bashing her fist into a tower right behind her. When the dust cleared, a hole clean through was revealed. Aori shoved her hands up into her hair pulling tight. Her eyes showed anguish, and her carefully maintained mask had slipped. Why her! Why couldn't she be like a normal person! Why?... 

She collapsed to the roof, shaking badly and cradling herself. She wasn't crying, because she couldn't… She had not cried for many, many years. As she lay there, the wind began to blow around her, dead leaves lifting from the roof to twirl and swirl softly around her. Amidst the wind and leaves a ghostly voice came. The motherly, old voice.

_"My daughter… You must not give up. The tree begins to grow again, another ring shall be added, another part of the story concluded. You have found one of the two whom will share your destiny, but he is still in grave danger… Both are. You must get up. Listen to what is happening around you, with a heart not blinded."_

The wind died down, the leaves coming to rest on the roof again. Aori lay still for a few moments more, then stood up, all signs of emotion gone, her mask back in place. She closed her eyes, and picking up voices in the air, she silently crept over to the side of the roof. Lowering herself over the edge, using her fingers to keep herself flush to the wall, she listened to the conversation, frowning. She recognized one of those voices… It was the tall man that Sasuke was always sparring with…

"Tonight! Tonight is the night that I take what is mine! His body has grown, matured, and it is in its prime! There is no riper time for the ritual."

"Orochimaru sir, are you sure that it must be tonight?"

"Of course! I have waited four years for this body, and I will not wait any longer! There are a few preparations left, and then I must rid the body of the soul that currently resides in it. Ah! By tomorrow, Sasuke's body will be mine!"

The voices died away as Orochimaru and the other went through a door. Only when their voices could be heard no more did Aori dare to move. She pulled herself back up onto the roof, shivering as she recalled the excitement in Orochimaru's voice. She had to find Sasuke!

* * *

Well, this is my first ever fan fiction; Please, tell me what you think, comments, criticisms, all is welcome. I would greatly like to improve 


	4. Womanly Anger

Woo! Well here it is My 4th installment. Sorry that it took me so long to get it out;

Disclaimers: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the ideas behind it

cocoa-latte: Thank you SO much for your review oo It was the first! As a new fanfic writer, it helped my confidence loads!

* * *

Ch. 4

"K'so! Where is she?" Sasuke cried out. He had been searching for Aori for over and hour, and he had seen neither hide nor hair of her. He was beginning to get frustrated.

_I don't understand! How can she just… disappear all of a sudden?_

"Sasuke, Orochimaru wants you in his chambers…" Sasuke pivoted, his hand going to a kunai strapped to his leg. He relaxed, letting go of the kunai's handle. It was just one of Orochimaru's stupid sound-nins…

"Tell him I'm busy right now."

"He said it is not an option… He orders you to come to his chambers immediately." Sasuke frowned.

_What is so important?_

"Very well…" Sasuke turned, following the ninja through the many halls of the hideaway, up to the highest floor. The ninja paused outside the room, opening the door for Sasuke, who barged past him impatiently. In his annoyed state, he did not notice when the ninja shut the door behind him.

"Sasuke, how good of you to come." Sasuke snorted disdainfully.

"It's not like I had any choice… What's so important that you needed me immediately?" Orochimaru stepped out of the shadows of his room, coming into the light. Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. Something was different about Orochimaru, but he couldn't quite tell what…

"Today is a special day Sasuke. Do you know why?" Orochimaru had begun to circle around Sasuke, who watched him suspiciously.

"No. Why is today so special?" Orochimaru came to a stop in front of Sasuke, a small smirk on his face and a strange gleam in his eyes. Sasuke could feel the small hairs on the nape of his neck stand up straight as Orochimaru leaned in to whisper his answer.

"Because today is the day that I fulfill my dream…" As he finished saying this his hands moved in a complex motion before ramming into Sasuke's chest. Sasuke's eyes widened, as he realized that he could no longer do anything except breathe.

_What the HELL is he doing?_

* * *

Aori had snuck along the roof top after hearing the conversation between the tall man and the other, whom she believed to be his spymaster. Her ears, though hidden under her hair, were pricked up and alert, listening for the smallest change in vibrations. They twitched as she picked up an angry voice.

"Sasuke, Orochimaru wants you in his chambers…" Aori flattened herself to the roof as a voice that was clearly Sasuke's replied. She crawled over to the edge, inching out just enough that she could peer in through the window. Sasuke was standing with his back to the sound-nin, an annoyed look on his face. The sound-nin spoke again.

"He said it is not an option… He orders you to come to his chambers immediately." Aori's eyes narrowed and she watched Sasuke frowned slightly. He turned.

"Very well…" Sasuke began to follow the sound-nin deeper into the building, to make their way to the top floor. When she could see them no longer, Aori pulled herself back onto the roof. She stood up, dusting off her clothes, and turned to look at the huge tower that she had made a hole in earlier. She went to stand at the bottom of it, peering up at the top, at least one-hundred and fifty feet up, where she could feel the tall man's evil chakra emanating from. She took a deep breath, closing her purple eyes. When she opened them again, they were no longer purple, but shockingly gold, and her face was devoid of any emotion. She bent down, then jumped, but much higher than any normal ninja could ever manage, even an anbu. With that one bound, she was able to grab onto an edge jutting out just below a window leading into the hallway. She heard a door shut as she pulled herself up, and she swore inwardly.

Her eyes had reverted to their purplish color by this time, and she leaped to a windowsill just a few feet away. Peering inside, she could see Orochimaru circling around Sasuke. He stopped in front of Sasuke, forming strange symbols with his hands, and then slamming them into Sasuke's chest. She saw his eyes widen and his arms and legs straining. With a jolt, Aori realized that Sasuke could not move any more. That was too much for Aori. She crashed through the windowsill, tucking and rolling as she landed. She leaped up to find both Orochimaru and Sasuke staring at her.

CRASH

Orochimaru whipped around, and Sasuke's eyes turned as they tried to find the source of the noise. They were both stunned to see Aori getting up off of the floor, pulling bits of glass from her body as though they were pieces of dust. Orochimaru snarled.

"You little BITCH! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU GET UP HERE!" Aori looked up at the tall man, meeting his eyes. Orochimaru's snarl grew in volume, for he saw no trace of fear in the girl's purple orbs. In fact, something almost like the utmost loathing was forming in her eyes as she stared back at him. He snapped his head back to Sasuke.

"I thought that she was harmless! Well THAT does not look harmless to me! YOU LIED TO ME!" He slapped Sasuke's face, leaving an angry purple welt. Sasuke's face jerked to the side and stayed there, not having voluntary control over his body's movements. It was Orochimaru who roughly brought his head back to look straight at Aori.

"Well, since she's here, she can watch the greatest event of MY life take place." He began to laugh as Aori charged towards them, being stopped roughly by Orochimaru's spymaster, Kabuto. She began to struggle, but nothing that she did could make Kabuto lessen his grip in the slightest. Orochimaru turned back to Sasuke, who was glaring at him.

"Oh, now don't look at me like that Sasuke. I don't want us to end on bad terms… You see, for these past four years, I have not been training you so that _you_ could become stronger. I was training you so that you body would become stronger." Orochimaru chuckled as Sasuke's eyes widened in shock again.

"Yes, you see. You, _Sasuke_ are worthless. You _body_ is what I want. It is the perfect vessel for my soul. Oh, don't worry, it should be pretty painless." Hatred had filled Sasuke's eyes now, which just made Orochimaru laugh harder. He could see Sasuke's jaw and throat muscles trying furiously to work.

"Oh, would you like to say something? Very well, I guess that I can allow you a few last words." So saying, Orochimaru moved his hands in front of Sasuke's mouth and throat, removing the binding chakra.

"Why?"

"Oh, come Sasuke, surely you can think of better questions than that! Oh well… Why you ask?" Orochimaru had begun pacing around Sasuke again, and both Sasuke's black eyes and Aori's purple ones followed him.

"Simply because you have the perfect body to hold my soul. From chakra amounts, to the strengths and weaknesses of your body, it is the perfect vessel."

"So you never wanted to train me for my talents…" Orochimaru rolled his eyes, stopping directly behind Sasuke.

"I've already told you that I didn't… And DING DING DING! Your question time is up! _My_ time is now!" So saying, Orochimaru stepped back pulling out and oddly shaped kunai, forming seals with his hands, and thrusting the chakra into the kunai. He threw it at Sasuke, hitting the very center of his back.

Aori had watched the exchange between Sasuke and the tall man take place, not bothering to waste energy trying to free herself from Kabuto's iron grasp. She followed the tall man's movement with hate-filled eyes. He stopped behind Sasuke, bringing out a kunai with three blades forming a pyramid shape. He performed a seal onto the strange weapon, and Aori's eyes widened. She had seen this seal once before, and it was not something that one forgot.

She began her struggles against Kabuto's grasp with renewed vigor, and the tall man seeing this, laughed.

"So, little bitchling, you have seen such a seal before. Good. You can watch him waste away before your eyes! And after I'm done here, maybe you and I will have a little fun." He threw the dagger, hitting Sasuke squarely in the back. Sasuke's eyes widened, as his head turned towards Aori. Their eyes met, Aori's frantic, Sasuke's dull, accepting of his fate.

"'Bye…" Somehow, she heard his whisper, and then his head, the only part of him not bound by chakra, drooped as his soul was forced from his body. Nobody but Aori and the tall man could see it, slowly oozing its way from Sasuke's form.

* * *

_Gone… He's gone… I've failed. Not just for myself, but for the world as well. Sasuke's dead…_

…_**ild…**_

_What! W-who's there?_

_**My child… All is not yet lost. You know what you must do, if you are to save him.**_

_B-but, I'm afraid… I'm afraid and I'm too weak… After all that has happened…_

_**Be not afraid. Just open your soul, and let me fly free.**_

_I-I can't…_

_**You can… Do not worry of the snake man. He will not live to see the sun rise again.**_

…_Just don't hurt Sasuke…_

* * *

Orochimaru had begun to laugh again, and lazily began to form the proper seals that would allow his soul to move into its new vessel, but stopped as chakra other than his own pulsed. He turned towards Kabuto, and the source of the chakra, annoyed.

"Kabuto! What are you…" Orochimaru trailed off as he beheld the scene before him. The bitchling's head had slumped, her chin on her chest, and her body was shining bright gold, immense waves of chakra the same bright hue spilling from what seemed to be every cut and pore on her body. As he watched the illuminated body, Sasuke's body and still escaping soul forgotten, the golden chakra began to form a physical shape for itself.

Orochimaru took a step back, as three giant, golden hands thrust their way from the girl's body. One grabbed a hold of Kabuto, throwing him through the already broken window. He took another step back and grabbed a kunai to defend himself as a second hand raced toward him. When it was within distance, he threw the kunai, but the hand had by-passed him, reaching for Sasuke's body and soul.

"NO! MY BODY!" Orochimaru shrieked as he saw the hand grab the struggling soul, forcing it to return to its rightful place and holding it there. He rushed towards the body, and almost fell as something grabbed a tight hold of his long hair. Without turning, Orochimaru knew it was the third hand; but instead of giving up, he just began to laugh.

"HAHA! FOOLS! HAIR CAN BE CUT!" He brought the kunai in his hand up towards his hair, and with a savage slashing motion, hacked it all off, or tried to. Before his kunai could sever even one strand from his head, the forgotten first hand, the one that had thrown Kabuto from the tower, wrapped around Orochimaru's body, squeezing tightly. His eyes widened as his body was jerked around to face the girl. But it was not the girl he was staring at.

A woman was standing there instead, ageless and old all at once, beautiful and hideous. She had pointed ears, situated on the top of her head, almost like a wolves, and they were furred… Or were they scaly. Orochimaru did a double take, and then realized that her ears constantly shifted, from fur, to scale, to feather. She had a tail as well, this permanently wolf like. While her hands were those of a human, her feet were not. From the knees down, the woman's legs were covered in soft golden fur, and her feet were beastly, clawed and fur-covered.

Orochimaru began to quiver, for the hands holding him no longer came from the girl's body, but from the shoulders of this woman, whom Orochimaru could see was not human. But it was not her ears, the tail, or even the feet that scared Orochimaru the most. It was her eyes. Her eyes were shifting, just like her ears, but not only from wolf, to snake, to bird, but from deep green, to shockingly red, to the black of the deepest pits of despair. But no matter what form, or what color, Orochimaru could always see the same thing in those eyes. Death.

Death and pity were the last things Orochimaru ever saw, as the women tore his head from his body, and then incinerated both pieces, before scooping the contents into her mouth. The strange woman swallowed, then drew the set of hands that had held the snake man into herself. Her main pair was left, holding the boy's limp body. She pulled the form close to her, and gently removed the kunai from his back. Flipping his body over onto its back, she performed the seals that released Orochimaru's binding. It had lasted after he had died for some reason. The lady finished pushing his soul the rest of the way back into his body, drawing temporary seals on his chest to keep it there. As he began to breathe again, she then spoke for the first time since appearing.

"He has lost much life daughter. The wound on his back was mortal… I must leave the rest to you…" The whisper of wind on leaves, and the thunder of ocean waves pounding the rocks, her voice faded away, just as her golden form began to. Eventually, Aori was left in the woman's place. When the golden light had completely retracted inside of her, she collapsed to the ground, blood trickling from the corners of her eyes and from the insides of her ears.

She lay there for a few minutes, her sides heaving. Then, at a slight moan from Sasuke, she pulled herself up. On shaky hands and knees, she made her way to his side, and carefully flipped him over. The punctures on his back were still bleeding, but more sluggishly than they should have been. That wasn't good… It meant he had lost a lot of blood.

"Sasuke…" Although she had whispered it, the single word echoed throughout the empty room. She stared down at his back, biting her lip, then turned away, in order to grab a piece of the glass from the broken window. Returning to Sasuke, she pulled his shirt off, ripping it into pieces and tying them around his chest tightly. She took another piece of the shirt and tied it around his arm, creating a tourniquet.

After tying one around her own arm, she took the glass and made a long slice down Sasuke's arm. She then quickly did the same with her own, not showing any sign of pain. When she could see blood welling in the wound, she quickly took his cut, pressing it against her own.

A pale red mist began to form around their arms, and Aori began to chant again. As she chanted, the blood beginning to drip from her wound stopped, as if frozen. Ever so slowly, it began to draw back up their joined arms, but instead of retreating into Aori's arm, it flowed into Sasuke's. As this was happening, Aori slowly turned Sasuke over onto his stomach, without breaking the contact of their arms, or stopping her chanting. With her free hand, she picked up a nearby piece of glass, squeezing it tightly in her hand. When she opened her fingers, a fine needle lay there.

Setting the needle down on Sasuke's back, she brought her hand to the hem of her pants, drawing one golden thread from the fabric. After managing to somehow insert the thread through the eye of the needle, Aori proceeded to carefully sew up first the severed arteries, and then the skin, on Sasuke's back. By the time she had finished, her chanting was barely more than a whisper, and her face had paled. She closed her eyes, frowning slightly, and yelled a single word that echoed through the empty room.

"FINITE!" As soon as the word left her lips, a blinding flash shot from the slices on both her and Sasuke's arm, making her screw her eyes against it. When she could open them safely, all that remained of the slices was a faint pink scar on each of their arms. She pushed Sasuke off of her lap gently, then bent her head down to rest upon his chest, listening. She smiled as she heard a steady beating, and easy breathing. The smile was still on her lips as her eyes slid shut.


	5. Going to Face the Past

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Cocoa-latte: Thank you SOOOOOOOOOO much for reading my story

And now! Onto the main event!

* * *

Ch. 5

_Darkness…There was only darkness now, but not the bad darkness. It was a calm darkness, soothing to Sasuke's senses. As he drifted in it, he tried to figure out where he was, why he was there. The memories began to come, after a few minutes. First, the white hot anger at Orochimaru, then the despair of his nightmares becoming truth, and the feeling of worthlessness. Lastly, he remembered a sharp pain in his back, and a pair of purple eyes, wide and horrified. But the owner of the eyes, he could not recall._

_Sasuke brought his attention back to the blackness surrounding him. He didn't know how, but he could sense that he had drifted forward as he was thinking. He could see something up ahead now, a pale blue light. There was something familiar about it, reminding him of the days before Itachii's betrayal, and the murdering of the Uchiha clan._

_Sasuke snorted to himself. It was funny, but wherever he was, he could think about his brother, and no feelings of anger or hatred would appear. In fact, he really did not care about it anymore… _

_He floated there, pondering this, when a whispered nothing made him whirl._

_**"Sasukeee…"** Sasuke whipped around again, trying to pinpoint the location of the ghostly whisper._

_**"Sasuke, my son…"** He turned one last time, to find himself staring at the bluish light, now much closer than before. There were two somethings immersed in it, and he squinted to make them out. When he could finally discern what the two shapes were, his eyes widened, and he tried to backpedal through the blackness._

_**"No! No! It can't be you! You're both dead! You're both dead…"** He heard a soft, loving, familiar laugh ahead of him, and he stopped trying to back away, as a frown appeared on his face. A soft hand, with skin the color of porcelain reached out for him, as the owner spoke._

_**"You silly! We are dead."** Sasuke stopped frowning at that._

_**"Oh… Well, I guess that that's all right then. Am I supposed to be coming with you?"** He beckoned to the hand still stretched before him._

_**"Yes. It is time…"** Sasuke sighed, feeling relieved. He could finally forget about his brother, Orochimaru, that annoying loud-mouth… He reached for the hand, which stretched farther to reach him. Just as he was about to clasp the delicate fingers, an immense force, huge and invisible, gripped his body. _

_He could feel himself being pulled backwards, away from the hand, whose owner cried out a strangled _

"_**NO!"**_

_The hand pulled back then, and it was Sasuke's turn to cry out, fighting against the invisible force pulling him._

_**"NO! Let me go! I want to go! MOTHER! FATHER!"** He fought and fought against the force, but no matter how hard he tried, he could not escape it. He had one last glimpse of their figures growing smaller and smaller, and then he was rushing through whiteness, then back to a less surreal darkness as the pain in his back knocked him unconscious…_

* * *

Sasuke awoke with a groan. 

_What happened? I remember Orochimaru, then…_

Sasuke sat up straight as he remembered what had happened. As he did so, a weight slid off of his chest and into his lap. He looked down, startled, then relaxed when he saw Aori's face. She was asleep, a slight smile on her face. Sasuke frowned then, for he noticed a long rip in the sleeve of her shirt, and a bit of her arm was exposed. There was some sort of tattoos on her skin, but he couldn't quite make them out. Sasuke bent, closer, trying to discern the writing… and jerked back suddenly, his nose bleeding.

Aori had awoken, and seeing him bending over her arm had leaped up, accidentally hitting his nose in the process. As he tried to stop the bleeding she turned her back to him after picking up a needle. Once he could take his hand away from his nose without blood gushing everywhere, Sasuke stood up and walked in front of Aori. He grabbed the sleeve where the rip was before she could stop him, but she had already sewn it up. He looked at her quizzically.

"What was that on your arm Aori?" Aori just shrugged, pulling her arm from his grasp. She waved around the room.

"We should leave here…" Sasuke stared at her, surprised. Her voice had been raspy, as though she had been yelling or screaming. She turned, heading for the door, and Sasuke grabbed her arm again.

"Wait!" Aori turned back around to look at him, her eyes and face guarded. "Did you save me Aori?" She nodded yes, then turned and headed out of the door, Sasuke having let go of her arm.

_She defeated Orochimaru! And Kabuto! How!_

Sasuke raised his hand, about to call for her to stop, but paused, and then lowered his hand. There would be time enough for questions later. Right now Aori had the right idea. They needed to get out of Orochimaru's hideaway.

* * *

A few days later, they were sitting next to a fire, having already put miles between themselves and the haunted building. Aori had caught a few rabbits, and they were roasting over the fire. Sasuke was sharpening some shurikens that he had taken from his rooms at Orochimaru's building. He looked up when Aori spoke. 

"Where do we go now?" Sasuke kept on sharpening the shuriken, used now to how little she spoke. He had an idea of where they should head to but…

"I have an idea, if it's okay with you…" He glanced up and saw Aori looking at him, the question in her eyes.

"It's the village I was born in. Before…before Orochimaru, I lived and trained there, part of a team of three." Images flashed through his mind as he spoke. Images of an annoying pink-haired girl, a loud-mouth boy in an orange jacket, and a young man with a book in one hand, a set of bells in the other. He kept talking, although the memories hurt.

"I-I _think_ that we can go there… Except that I didn't exactly leave on the best of terms so…" He looked up at Aori, to see what she thought. She was sitting quietly on a log, her chin resting on her gloved palm. Sasuke could see emotion trying to fight its way out of her eyes. For a moment it won, and fear showed through, then was suppressed again by an iron barrier.

"…Aori? Are you alright?" She jumped slightly, as if she had forgotten that he was there, blinked once and then spoke.

"This village of yours… Will there be other men there?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows, startled.

"Well, yeah, there'll be other men there. Why?"

"It's just that…men make me nervous." Sasuke set down the shuriken, looking closer at Aori. He could now see that the hand not supporting her chin was quivering. He frowned slightly. What was it about men that scared her so much?

"But, you never seemed nervous around me, after a while, and I only ever saw you hating Orochimaru." Aori's eyes blazed at his words.

"You were different… And the tall man was not a man. He was an evil thing. I am not afraid of things! Just men." He drew back a bit, startled by Aori's outburst.

"All right, all right! We don't have to go there if you don't want too." But Aori shook her head.

"No. Your friends are there. I will just stay hidden for a while…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly. How did she know that his friends were in Konoha?

"Okay then. We will set out for Konoha tomorrow."

"Yes, tomorrow is good…" With those last few words, Aori disappeared into her tent. Sasuke stared after her, then picked back up the shuriken, shaking his head.

"I think that that was the most I've ever heard her say in one day."

* * *

"LEE! GET BACK HERE YOU CATERPILLAR-BROWED ASS-HOLE!" Rock Lee turned the corner running at full speed, Sakura hot on his heels. It had been four and a half years since Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru, and things had almost gone back to normal. Sakura was training under Tsunade now, but Lee had given up on her long ago. Even now, he would still catch her staring off into the distance, thinking of Sasuke. They were friends now, and as happens with all friends, they sometimes played little jokes on one-another. 

At the moment, the Sakura chasing Lee did not have pink hair. It was bright green. Lee was having troubles running, because at the same time tears were coming out of his eyes from laughing. He turned another corner, and ran smack-dab into somebody, both of them falling into a tangle. Lee was able to stop laughing long enough to make out a lock of shockingly blond hair.

"Hahaha!-Sorry-Hehehehe!-Naruto I'm-GAhahahahaha!-running from Sakura-Aie!" Lee shrieked as Sakura rounded the corner and grabbed his hair, dragging him off of Naruto.

"LEE! I'M GOING TOO KILL YOU!" Lee cringed, waiting for the punch that he knew was coming, but instead heard a THWAK and "NARUTO! LET ME GO!" Naruto, trying hard to keep his face straight, had stopped Sakura's fist.

"Easy there green-hair. We don't want to damage Lee's pretty face now do we?" Lee shook his head at Sakura, using his puppy eyes skill to its fullest extent.

"No no no! You don't want to hurt me!" Sakura growled, then ripped her hand from Naruto's fist, dropped Lee and stormed off. Lee turned to Naruto, massaging his head.

"Hey, thanks for tha… Naruto? What's wrong?" Naruto had his back to him, and was shaking, hard. Lee frowned, and reached out to touch Naruto's shoulder, but before he could Naruto broke out into peals of laughter.

"BWAHAHAH! I will NEVER forget that! Sakura with green hair! BAHAHAHAH!" Lee just stood there, shaking his head, a smile on his face. It was amazing how unchanged Naruto was inside. For his physical appearance sure was different.

His hair was longer now, enough so that he could keep it in a pony-tail. Naruto's voice had changed too, going from the high-pitched whine to that of a pleasant tenor. He had gone through a few growth spurts as well, and was now taller that Lee. Along with that, and intense training came a lithe, muscular form. Many of the girls in Konoha nowadays swooned over Naruto. Unfortunately, it had gone to his head, and he had an immense ego.

Naruto had stopped laughing by this time, and wiping the last few traces of tears from his eyes turned to Lee.

"Thanks Lee. I needed a good laugh…" Lee frowned.

"You did? Why?" The smile that had been on Naruto's face slowly slipped off.

"A scout just came back from watching Orochimaru's hideout, and his report was…disturbing. According to him, all the people on the grounds dropped dead when a golden light flashed from Orochimaru's chambers. Our scout was a few miles away when this happened, and the aftershock was still enough to knock him out for half a day." Lee shivered. Everyone knew that ever since Sasuke had left, both Tsunade and Naruto had had scouts find the hideout, and then keep it under constant surveillance. The scouts weren't ordinary chuunin either. They were special jounin, whose expertise was in the field of intelligence-gathering. In other words, they were spys.

At the beginning of the third year, when it was hypothesized that Orochimaru would try to take Sasuke's body, Naruto himself had been the scout. Nothing had happened, and so the normal watches resumed. That one of the scouts had been knocked out was worrying news.

"So, what had happened?" Naruto shrugged.

"We don't really know. But when the scout woke back up, everybody was dead. He went to investigate, but Sasuke's body wasn't there. There could have been a fight though, because one of the windows into Orochimaru's rooms was broken. The scout also thinks that Orochimaru is dead. There was a pile of ashes in his rooms, and they were identified as the robe that Orochimaru always wore…" Lee shivered stronger this time. For something to kill Orochimaru and all of his followers, their chakra must have been immense.

"So you don't know if Sasuke is alive or dead?"

"…No…"

* * *

Sasuke stopped outside the walls of Konoha, turning to face Aori. 

"Okay. How do you want to do this?" She looked at him, then jumped, grabbing a hold of the wall and scaling it easily. She peered out over the vast village, then let go, landing soundlessly next to Sasuke.

"You go in… I will follow you a little ways behind, staying hidden…" Sasuke took a deep breath, then let it go. He couldn't think of a better way so…

"All right then. Are you ready?" Aori nodded and they simultaneously jumped up the wall, climbing up, over, and into Sasuke's past.


	6. Of Bad Introductions

Well, here it is Chapter 6. Thank you for all of your reviews They make me feel very happy.Especially yours Sodesne. I'mglad that you like my story, even though the main character is an OC.Just a quick clear-up for something lower on this page... I refer to the thigh muscles as "upper-leg muscles" because #1. I forgot what their real name is #2 If anybody else forgot their real name, this makes it MUCH easier.

* * *

Ch. 6

Lee was out running again, but this time not from Sakura. He was training, running around the village twice, after having done 1000 push-ups. It was early afternoon, and the sun was boiling, so Lee had sped up, hoping to finish quickly so that he could go swimming. Lost in his thoughts of clear, cold water, Lee did not see the person as he rounded the corner of a building. Again, he and the other person fell down, although this time Lee fell backwards, bumping his head on the hard ground. He sat up wincing.

"Ow. How is it that I keep running into everybody?" He pulled himself back up, then heard a groan behind him from the other person.

"Watch where you're running, you idiot." Lee froze. He knew that voice well, and he also had not heard it in four and a half years.

_It can't be… There's no way that it could be Sasuke. Is there…?_

He was about to wave the foolish thought away, then stopped, remembering what Naruto had told him. How Sasuke's body had been nowhere at the hideout. Closing his eyes, he steeled himself and then turned to see who he had run into. He opened his eyes and gasped staring. There he was, with the usual scowl in place on his face. He saw Sasuke's eyes widen, and heard him whisper "Shit!" Sasuke turned to leave and Lee grabbed his shirt, halting his escape.

"Sasuke… Y-you're back!" Sasuke sighed, then detached Lee's hand from his shirt.

"Yeah, here I am. Don't tell anybody quite yet, OK?" Lee, still dumbstruck, just nodded. They both turned when a voice shouted from behind Sasuke.

"SASUKE! HEY EVERYBODY, SASUKE'S BACK!" The boy who had just shouted was chubby, and had a bag of chips clasped in his hands. Sasuke heard others throughout the area shout back, and he growled.

"Damn that Choji!" He turned to leave, but was stopped again when as a pink blur came stampeding towards him.

"Oh shi-" That was all he had time to say before the speeding bundle collided with his midriff, knocking him down. He was getting annoyed by this time and snarled at the mass on his chest.

"Sakura, get off of me. NOW!"

"NO!" Sasuke snarled louder, then shoved the girl off of him, none to gently. He stood up and brushed himself off, then turned to face her. He was surprised at how different she looked.

She had let her hair grow out, and it was now just past her shoulders, held back in a pony-tail. Her body had matured too, and she now looked like the young woman that she was. From the white band encircling her forearm, Sasuke could tell that she was a trainee healer.

"Sasuke?" He focused back on the present again. Sakura was staring at him, now speechless, with tears pouring from her eyes. The speaker was a woman behind her. Sasuke groaned inwardly. The Hokage was the last person he wanted to meet right now. He bowed.

"Hello again Tsunade-sama." Tsunade stared at him, blinking hard. She was more than a little surprised that he had showed up unexpectedly, and even more so, he had changed drastically.

His skin was as pale as ever, his eyes still coal black, but he had grown taller, and was no longer skinny-in-a-muscular-way. Now, from what Tsunade could see, Sasuke's arms were well chiseled, without looking obscenely huge. His legs were like that too. There were some new scars on his body that had not been there before he left, the most noticeable one being a long, thin, pale pink scar that began at his forearm and ended at the spot just before his wrist.

With only a slight whoosh to announce his arrival, Kakashi appeared next to Tsunade. He looked at Sasuke in that half-bored, half-annoyed way that only he could manage.

_Okay… This is getting WAY to out of hand. Before I know it, the whole village will be here to gawp at me like stupid chickens…_

With that thought, Sasuke slowly began to back away from the crowd of familiar faces. It was just too many, too soon. Once more he was stopped when Gai appeared in a cloud of green smoke.

"I had to see for myself! When Neji told me that Sasuke was back I didn't believe him." Gai took a good look at Sasuke and began to laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"I guess that I was wrong…" As he kept on talking, Neji, Tenten, Shikamaru, Kiba and Ino appeared. Sasuke growled, about to say something sharp to Choji for getting him into this mess, but the words never came as a loud crash echoed from behind Sasuke. Every, immediately alert, turned to the source of the sound, weapons drawn.

* * *

Aori had stuck to dark valleys and shadowed buildings all the time that she was following Sasuke. Currently, she was tucked into a nice, shadowy alleyway. She had tensed when someone ran into him, but then realized that Sasuke knew the boy. She had just begun to relax when a shout echoed from right next to her hiding spot. Her chakra had spiked as she turned to face a roly-poly boy, but it wasn't her he was shouting at. She snarled though, for he had just alerted everybody in the area that Sasuke was there.

She had silently stood up in the alley, drawing two shurikens and calling on her chakra, as people began to swarm around Sasuke. She watched them carefully, without moving in the slightest bit. So far none of them, not even the pink-haired girl, had had a threatening air about them. When the adults showed up, especially the two men, she stiffened. Adults were worse than people her age, and one of them had the same type of eye concealed under his village band as Sasuke did when he was fighting, or enraged.

Aori drew farther back into the alley, so as not to risk being spotted. A hand came down on her shoulder and she froze.

"Put down your weapons now, and I will not harm you." Aori did nothing, standing as still as possible. It was a man, given away by his voice. When the hand on her shoulder tightened just the tiniest fraction, her body automatically went into action, releasing her chakra into a physical form, grabbing the owner of the hand and flinging him into a brick building fifteen feet away. Her sight clouded in panic, and the last thing she thought sanely was to protect Sasuke.

* * *

"What the HELL was that!" The exclamation came from Kiba's mouth as the dust rose. Sasuke crouched down a little, drawing a few kunai.

_I think I know what that was, but I'll wear bright green before I tell them_

As the dust settled, a coughing could be heard, coming from the side of the building. When a figure could be made out, Hinata gasped. It was Naruto, somehow stuck to the side of the building by two huge hands, made of purple chakra. They watched Naruto finally open his eyes and try to move, then realize what was wrong.

"WHAT THE HECK! HEY YOU GUYS, LOOK OUT! THERE'S A-" He was cut off as another piece of purple chakra flew to cover his mouth. A blur could be seen by all, following the chakra, while only Kakashi, Gai, Sasuke and Tsunade could actually make out any colors. As the blur advanced on Naruto, Kakashi went into action. He took off at a run, trying to intercept the blur. Sasuke flung his arm out, trying to grab Kakashi's foot.

"NO! DON'T GO AFT-" He stopped, dumbstruck, as Kakashi's form disappeared, and then reappeared on the wall next to Naruto, an even larger pair of hands holding him down, with another strand of chakra keeping down his village band. At that point, even Tsunade's mouth was open.

"This has gone far enough…" With those words, Gai leapt in, using taijutsu to speed up just enough to grab at the blur. Sasuke winced as what he knew was Aori was stopped dead in her tracks. He swore under his breath, then began rushing towards Gai and the girl, not hearing Tsunade and Sakura's protests.

He skidded to a stop as Aori, using Gai's advantage against him, leapt into the air, dragging Gai up and over her head, to slam into the building next to Kakashi. When the dust cleared for a second time, Gai, Kakashi and Naruto were still stuck to the wall.

Everybody was completely silent. Somebody had just disabled Naruto, Gai, and Kakashi within thirty seconds. Not even the third Hokage had done that before. Sakura and a few of the others gasped as the blur finally took form, appearing on the wall with a kunai pressed at Kakashi and Gai's throats. She seemed to be standing on the side of the building using chakra. Her face was a mask, no emotion escaping at all.

Sakura's gasps had brought Sasuke out of his awe. He began to move slowly towards the girl, when Sakura rushed out, grabbing his arm.

"No Sasuke! Don't! She'll hurt you too!" Sasuke turned and glared at Sakura in such a cold way that hell would have frozen over.

"Let go of me now…" Shocked by the venom in his voice, Sakura released his arm, and he again dashed towards Aori.

When he reached her, everybody held their breath, waiting for his body to wind up on the side of the building as well. All watching blinked in amazement as Sasuke stretched out his hand to the girl, talking in a soothing voice.

"Aori, you need to let them go. These people will n-

Sasuke stopped when Aori's body stiffened, making the kunais dig into the two ninja's necks just enough that blood trickled. When her body began to shake, Sasuke backed away warily, then swore when she dropped, slamming into the ground. He rushed for her, but movement from her slowed him, and he sighed.

An instant later, her head jerked up and Sakura and Hinata gasped again, and everyone, Sasuke included, took a few steps back. Her eyes were shining gold, the pupils gone. As everybody looked on in amazement, her head jerked to the left, and blood began to trickle from her mouth. Her head then jerked the other way, and a red welt appeared next to her eye.

At least a few of the people present realized what was happening then, although it seemed impossible. Something, unheard and unseen, was hurting the girl. Sasuke was one of the first to realize, and rushed towards her again. He grabbed her arm, then found himself flying through the air, an automatic reaction from Aori's body. He slammed against a wall, the wind knocked out of him and could only watch the events that unfolded.

Her head was jerked around a few more times, large bruises forming immediately. Then, with a crack like a gunshot, her right leg broke. Her eyes, which had squeezed shut with the pain, snapped open again, showing bright gold as she screamed. With that scream, the chakra holding the three men to the wall dissipated, and they dropped to the ground. Whatever was hurting Aori wasn't done yet. She flipped over, as though kicked, and curled up, her body shaking as invisible beings kicked at her stomach, ribs, back, everywhere.

Sasuke tried to focus on her leg from where he was, and shuddered when he realized that it was crushed.

_That means that… K'SO!_

Using the wall, he hoisted himself up and began staggering towards Aori, trying his best to ignore the stabbing pain traveling from his right wrist up to his shoulder. He was only halfway to Aori when her other leg was crushed, and she let out a rending scream again. Sasuke tried to hurry along a little faster as her eyes slid shut, and her body lay still.

Sasuke reached her frozen form, and bent down slowly, reaching a hand out to see if she was conscious, when Tsunade appeared beside him, grabbing his hand.

"Don't touch her… We don't know what she will do." Sasuke whipped his head around to look at the Hokage, growling.

"Don't you get it! She only attacked them because she was scared!" Tsunade let go of Sasuke's hand, surprised and slightly annoyed, at the heat she could hear in the young man's voice.

"Oh, so you know this girl? This girl who just attacked and threatened THREE of Konoha's ninja's!"

"OF COURSE I KNOW HER! I'VE BEEN TRA-

Sasuke stopped his yelling at Tsunade as Aori twitched. He turned his eye back to her worried, then realized that something was happening. He turned back to Tsunade.

"We've gotta move back, NOW!" He grabbed her hand and began dragging her away from the girl's body, and not a moment too soon.

Aori's body had begun jerking and convulsing again. Sasuke watched, gritting his teeth, knowing that there was nothing that he could do to help her. With two more resounding cracks, both of her arms broke. She lay still again, but still Sasuke did not approach her body. Something did not quite seem right. His instincts were correct as Aori's eyes snapped open yet again.

Everybody gasped as she sat up suddenly, her body shaking hard. She brought her hands, with broken arms and everything, up to her head, clutching her skull. She began to rock back and forth slightly, and everybody shivered slightly at her next words. It wasn't the words that made them shiver though. It was her voice, childlike and deadly angry at the same time.

"Get out! Get out of my head! Damn you bastards, I already killed you! Now get out of MY HEAD!" With those last words, her head jerked straight up, her face towards the sky. Her mouth was wide open now as well as her eyes, and a golden chakra was pouring out of both places.

Sasuke and Tsunade backed up even more, and both could hear people behind them gasp as a small disk came blasting out of the side of the girl's skull, leaving a nickel-sized hole that trickled blood. Aori dropped back to the ground like cement, and Sasuke began heading back for her, feeling at last that it was safe. Tsunade followed, giving Sasuke and Aori's body a large berth as she made her way to Gai, Kakashi and Naruto.

Sasuke knelt gently next to Aori's body, examining the bruises that covered her face. Although the rest of her body was covered by her clothing, he could guess that most of her body would have severe bruising, as well as her crushed legs and fractured arms. It was not these things that worried Sasuke the most though. It was the hole on the side of her head.

Gingerly, he slid his fingers underneath her head, turning it so that he could look at the wound. He frowned when he saw that it was gone, a small red mark all that was left to signify that any sort of wound had been there. He turned her head back, and jolted slightly. Her eyes were open, purple again, and they were staring at him, fear rushing through them.

"S-Sasuke?" The way her voice was just then, she sounded like a small child. Sasuke let out the breath he had been holding. She was going to be fine, as the mask now back in place on her face told him.

"Can you sit up?" Aori nodded, and Sasuke gently pulled her upright, not missing her slight wincing at the broken arms and legs. When she nodded again, he let go of her, and she slowly looked at the damage around her, careful of her arms. Sasuke could not tell what was going through her head as she looked at him again.

"I did all of this?" Sasuke nodded slowly, and her eyes slid shut as she let out a heavy breath. She was about to say something, when a shadow fell over both of them. They turned to see a livid, but cautious Tsunade staring down at Aori.

"Sasuke, I want you to back away from this girl, now. I'm going to arrest her." Sasuke's eyes went wide at that, and he jumped up, ready to begin shouting at the Hokage, but before he could begin, she spoke again.

"I don't want to hear it Sasuke. This girl is dangerous, no matter what you say. Whatever that just was, I can't fix Naruto, Gai and Kakshi's injuries! It's like her chakra is resistant to healing, and I don't know what to do!" As she had spoken, Tsunade's voice had increased in volume until by the end she was yelling. Everyone else who had watched the spectacle had moved closer by this time, all with weapons drawn and eyes on the stranger.

Sasuke just glared at Tsunade, getting angrier with each word she said. Again he opened his mouth to retaliate, and again he was stopped, but this time by a hand clutching his arm. He turned to Aori and realized that she was trying to stand. She was using his arm to try and pull herself up with two broken arms and two shattered legs. Sasuke quickly bent down and helped her up, a worried look in his eyes as she let out a hissing breath. The others tensed, thinking that she was getting ready to attack Sasuke, but all she did was lean against him, the pain of her injuries making her body shake. She brought her head up after a few seconds, aiming her emotionless, purple gaze at Tsunade.

"I apologize greatly for the harm I have caused here. Please allow me to fix them…" Tsunade, along with all of the other ninjas who had never known Aori before, just stared at her, slightly shocked at the quiet politeness emanating from her mouth.

When Tsunade failed to reply, Aori took things into her own hands, pushing herself off of Sasuke's shoulder and slowly and painfully making her way over to the three wounded men. As she knelt down next to Kakashi's body, Tsunade made to stop her, but Sasuke held the Hokage back. She turned to him, and the two engaged in a furious whisper-match.

"What are you DOING Sasuke? She's going to hurt them even more! She has no proper training, and all three are probably going to end up dead!" Sasuke glared back at her as he replied.

"I haven't told ANYONE, not even Aori this, but I trust her with my life. _If_ she kills any one of them, although that is extremely unlikely, I will take her punishment for her." Tsunade now stared at Sasuke in the same way that she had just been staring at the girl named Aori. In all of her days knowing him, not _once_ had Sasuke ever admitted openly to trusting anyone so completely. Tsunade sighed, the will to fight gone out of her, and Sasuke released her.

All the while that this heated conversation had been going on, Aori had been gently running her gloved hands over the silver-haired man's chest, arms and legs, pinpointing a broken rib and bad bruising on his upper-leg muscles. Letting her body relax as much as possible with her wounds, Aori let her eyes slide shut as she placed her palms face-down onto the dirt, chanting. As Sasuke had seen once before, a golden mist began to gather where her hands met earth, and soon four thin tendrils had shot out of the ground, waving slowly in the air.

Although Sasuke was used to this-to a point-none of the others, including Tsunade, had ever seen anything like it. They all stared on as the small tendrils wrapped around Kakashi's chest. Seeing as the broken rib was on the side of his body facing away from the crowd, they could not see when the vines punctured his side, writhing under the skin as the pulled the piece of bone back into place and set it there with a bit of an organic gooey substance that Aori knew would decompose once the break was fully healed.

The plants then withdrew from his side, making their way down to his legs, where they began to emit a golden light as well. Aori nodded, for she could feel the bruises lessen, for all that she could not see it happen. Once this was done, Aori tried to pull herself up so that she could make her way to Gai's body. She got about halfway, with the others again tensing, before her crushed legs gave out and she fell hard to the ground. Sasuke winced simultaneously with her as her arms were jostled.

She sighed, then heaved herself back up into a sitting position. Although she did not want to, she was going to have to put her consciousness into the vines to reach the green man and the loud boy. She closed her eyes again, this time not reopening them, as the golden mist at her hands spread around her whole body, then left it, surrounding the vines and infusing them with the golden light. Sasuke frowned. This was something new.

The plants made their way to Gai's side, doing the same kind of check as Aori had done on Kakashi. They set a broken arm, and reset a dislocated finger before moving to Naruto's body. Kakashi had begun to stir by this time, and so Tsunade rushed over to him to keep him still as he awoke.

Sasuke kept his eyes half on the plants and half on Aori's body as he watched. They began to wind around Naruto's chest, arms and legs, exactly as they had with Kakashi and Gai, setting any broken bones and lessening any bruises they came across. Then, as the plants began to wind across the area where his belly button was located, they stopped dead, beginning to shake slightly. Sasuke frowned at this, and began to move to check Aori's body when her eyes snapped open, glowing gold, and the plants shriveled and died. She bolted straight up, showing none of the weakness she had just minutes ago, her golden eyes not looking at anything but Naruto's covered stomach. Sasuke rushed to grab her shoulder, which seemed somehow to bring her out of this state, which was a good thing as some of the others were prepared to make her into a human pin cushion.

Aori blinked once, then twice and her eyes were purple again, purple and dull with weariness. She whispered one thing before falling into Sasuke's open arms as her body went into a healing sleep.

"It is done…"

* * *

Please send your opinions I look forward tothem.

Naruto: Heeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyy! How come I was barely in this chapter?

Sasuke slaps the back of his head: Because you aren't the main character for once dobe. Aori is.

Aori: ...


	7. In Which Tsunade Looses Her Cool

Hey, here's the next chapter finally The internet was down today, so I had ton's of time to work on it. Tell me what you think, and thanks to all the people who sent me their AWESOME reviews! Gets warm fuzzies inside

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Ch. 7

_The she-wolf yawned, showing dagger-like canines as she stretched. The day was warm; the circle-that-glows warm on her golden fur. She let out a contented sigh as she flopped back down onto the soft grasses in front of her den. She let her eyes wander, coming to rest on a small ball of golden-red fur, her pup._

_The little wolflet was romping alone through the stream, she being the only one of her brothers and sisters left. The water was warm on her paddy-paws, and the tiny fish darting around amused her to no end. She would lift her paws, splashing them down again, trying to catch the tiny silver fish._

_The wolflet slipped at one point, her rump flying in the air as her head submerged under water for a second. The she-wolf lifted her lip, revealing a gleaming white canine, as an almost coughing sound came from her throat. She was laughing. It had been a long time since she had born any children, and when this young one had survived the sharp winter frost, the she-wolf could not have been more grateful._

_Eventually, with the warming air and full belly, the she-wolf dozed off as the little one played in the stream._

_After a while, the wolflet began to tire of the stream and its fish. She turned to her mother for fun, only to find her asleep. The little wolflet let out a little huff, then turned when a spark of shining red caught her eye. There was some sort of strange rock on the ground, about the size of her head and deep red in color. The wolflet tilted her head in curiosity, approaching the strange rock carefully. She bent down to sniff the thing and…_

_It moved. The wolflet snorted, jumping back in surprise, but the shiny stone paid no heed, slowly inching towards a thicket twenty yards away. The little wolf let out an excited yip and pounced towards the moving rock, only to grab dirt as it scooted just out of her reach. She crouched again, a false snarl playing her lips, and leapt at the stone. Again, it moved just out of her reach. She kept chasing it, moving closer and closer to the thicket. When the little wolf was almost in the thicket, the stone finally stopped, and she was able to pounce on it, biting softly. She turned her back to the thicket and lay down, tired from the chasing game, gnawing contentedly on the stone. Suddenly, the wind picked up, blowing from behind the thicket, towards her, and her nose twitched at the unnatural and dangerous smell the wind carried._

_The she-wolf awoke immediately at the frightened yips of her pup. She looked up and down the stream bank frantically, not seeing the wolflet. Eventually, her eyes landed on the thicket, and her child being bared down on by a human hunter. The she-wolf let out a snarl colder than ice and in three gigantic bounds was in front of her pup. She snapped at the hand reaching for her pup, and the wielder was too slow, cursing as two of his fingers came off in the she-wolf's mouth. The brush next to him twitched, and another human jumped out with a thin, sharp rock. The mother wolf had just enough time to kick her pup into the deeper, swifter part of the stream before the humans fell upon her. As the wolflet struggled to keep her head above the now-frigid waters, the last image she had of her mother was the silvery blood spraying from her open throat…

* * *

_

Aori sat straight up, the covers that had been on her falling to her waist. She was breathing heavily, covered in a cold sweat. She brought a shaking and, she quickly realized, clawed hand to cover her eyes, slipping down after a few moments to cover her mouth.

When she had stopped shaking so badly, Aori brought her knees up, hiding her head behind them and putting her hands over the top. She should not be having such dreams, not right now. She took in a deep breath through her nose and realized that she wasn't outside. Her head snapped back up, her eyes wide as she looked around.

She was in an average-sized room, and everything was white. The walls, the floor, the lights, her bed and sheets, even the table next to her was white. She frowned, squinting from the _whiteness_ of it all and tried to remember what had happened. She started to chew on her lip, thinking hard. Flashes of memory came to her. The three men, an attack, the pain in her head, then the shock that came from deep within her soul as she examined the yellow-haired man's body for wounds through the plants.

The door creaked open and Aori vaulted out of the bed, landing on the ceiling. She looked down to see Sasuke gazing up at her with raised eyebrows, and his right hand in a cast.

"Oh, pardon me. Did I surprise you?" Aori glared when she heard the laughter in his voice, letting her chakra go so that she fell from the ceiling, landing on her feet. She walked over to him, gently grasping his encased arm and bringing it up to look at with regret-filled eyes. She brought her purple orbs up to stare into his, the apology clear in their depths. He slowly drew his cast out of her grasp.

"It wasn't your fault Aori… You had no way of knowing that I was a friend, from what I could see." Aori nodded, signifying that she understood.

"Ah, Sasuke! Here you are! I was wondering where you had gotten to." Sasuke whipped around as Kakashi stepped into the hospital room. He felt slight movement behind him and tilted his head enough to see that Aori was crouched behind him, shaking slightly. Sasuke turned back to Kakashi.

"Is there something you need of me Sensei?" Kakashi just shook his head, a smile in his eyes.

"Nope, but Tsunade does. She wants you in her office right now. Oh, and, bring the girl…" Sasuke let out a weary sigh and nodded, heading for the door. When he realized that Aori wasn't following him, he turned back, his face perplexed.

"Aori, what's the matter?" Aori was still standing where he had left her, her eyes going from the floor, to Kakashi and back again. Neither of the other two ninjas could see the battle raging inside of her body. When the jounin had stepped into the room, she had recognized him immediately, and her heart had jolted a little to see the bandages wrapped around his chest. She had done that to him. Not only that, he was a man, full grown and powerful, and she was automatically rooted to the spot, the fear inside of her taking over her mind.

From the stillness of her body, and the way that she wouldn't look at Kakashi, Sasuke could roughly guess what was going through her head. He walked back to her as Kakashi looked on, his face as cheerful as always.

"Aori, you don't have to worry. Sensei isn't the type to get angry often, and I won't let him near you, if you don't want." Aori looked up at him, and Sasuke saw a swallow of relief flit through her eyes. She nodded, her hands clenching the fabric at her sides.

"Well, come on you two. I'd better get you to Tsunade-sama before she gets angry." With that, Kakashi turned, acting as if the one-sided conversation between his former student and the girl hadn't happened.

* * *

A few minutes later, Aori flopped down onto a wooden bench outside the doors leading to Tsunade's office. She and Sasuke had passed many strangers on the way, and it had been trying on her nerves to not turn and run. In fact, when they first stepped out of the room, and four ANBU had appeared next to them, Sasuke had needed to grab her arm to keep her from retreating back into the room.

Sasuke sat down next to Aori, touching her gloved hand gently, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked over at him.

"Do you mind telling me exactly _why_ you jumped onto the ceiling when I came into your room?" Aori blinked slowly, and then shook her head. Sasuke was surprised to see shame on her face. He let out a soft sigh.

"Aori, look at me. Please." Aori closed her eyes, taking a deep breath, and then brought her head back up, the shame erased from her face. Sasuke caught her eyes with his and held their gaze.

"You don't need to keep secrets about you hidden from me. I won't keep any from you if you won't keep yours from me." Aori chewed slightly on her bottom lip, thinking. She opened her mouth to say something when the door behind her opened. She whipped her head around to gaze at a tired-looking blonde woman.

"Sasuke, you and the girl can come in now." Aori looked back at Sasuke as the young man rose from his seat. He walked to the door and stopped, waiting for her. Aori reluctantly stood up and followed Sasuke into the blonde woman's office.

"Please, both of you, sit down. We have a lot to talk about." Aori and Sasuke each took a seat in front of a large and disorganized mahogany desk. The blonde woman sat in the chair behind it, facing them. She leaned forward on the desk, resting her fingers in a steeple shape. All three sat there in silence for a few moments before Sasuke opened his mouth.

"Tsunade-sama, I-

Sasuke stopped as the blonde woman, Tsunade he had called her, held up her hand.

"Whatever it is that you need to say Sasuke, you will have your chance in a minute. I am the one who must speak right now." She sighed and pushed her chair away from the desk, getting up and walking around to lean on the front.

"First off. Are either of you hungry?" Sasuke and Aori both frowned at that, looking at her bewildered. Tsunade beckoned at a table behind them, tucked in next to the door. It was laden with meats and fruits, salads, and, of course, desserts. Sasuke turned back to Tsunade quickly, bowing his head slightly.

"Arigato Tsunade-sama." He got up from his seat and headed for the table, with Aori right behind him. They grabbed plates, and Sasuke loaded his with salads, fruit and a piece of pie. He looked over and watched as Aori piled on a slab of steak, pork, turkey, and some chicken. She then turned her attentions to the fruit dishes, adding oranges, apples and strawberries to her meaty meal. A few helpings of salad, and she headed back to her seat, Sasuke right next to her.

As they sat down, Tsunade stared in quite a bit of shock. Between the two of them, they had managed to take at least half of the food on the banquet table. After a few moments of watching them eat, Tsunade cleared her throat, focusing on Sasuke.

"First, welcome back Sasuke. You don't think it, but you were sorely missed by many people." Sasuke snorted at this comment, his mouth to full of salad to retort. Tsunade frowned at his behavior.

"Disbelieve me all you want, but it's true. I missed you, as did your Sensei, Sakura," another snort, "and especially Naruto." At the mention of the rambunctious youth, Sasuke paused to look up at the Hokage. Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, he really did miss you. I don't think you realize just how highly he regards you Sasuke." Sasuke just stared at her for another moment as an emotion that Tsunade couldn't quite discern passed through his eyes. She cleared her throat and spoke again.

"I will also need you to come in for a while one day so that I may get a full account of how and why you left Orochimaru." Sasuke just nodded, turning his attention onto his slice of blueberry pie. Tsunade just rolled her eyes before turning to the girl in the other chair.

"As for you g-g-g-…" Both teenagers looked up as Tsunade suddenly halted, staring at Aori's plate. She had watched the girl take more food than Sasuke, and already all that was left was a few pieces of lettuce that she was just finishing up, while Sasuke was barely half way through his pie with the fruit he had taken left to go.

"How did you…Never mind. There are more important things…" Tsunade trailed off before focusing back on the girl.

"First, I would like to know your name." She watched the girl's eyes flick over to Sasuke, who gave a slight shrug in return. The girl focused back on Tsunade.

"You may call me Aori, Hokage." Tsunade started, then gave a little chuckle.

"Perceptive girl, aren't we Aori?" She pace around to the back of the girl's chair.

"Well then. Aori, I need you to tell me why you attacked and injured three of Hidden Leaf's ninjas." Aori stared up at her for a moment, licking a bit of stray dressing from her lip.

"I was scared." Tsunade let out an unbelieving snort.

"Scared. That's funny, because as I watched you attack my men, you seemed completely calm and in control. Usually, a scared person can't move, or they act rashly when they attack. So nice try. How about telling me why you _really_ attacked them? And NO lies this time." Aori took all of this in a stride, sitting there calmly the whole time. When Tsunade looked at her, awaiting her new answer, Aori just shrugged, her face carefully blank.

"I was scared." Tsunade stepped a few feet back from the chair, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, her jaw clenched.

"Fine then. If you won't answer that question honestly, perhaps you will my next one. After injuring them, when I said that I wasn't able to, why did you heal them?" This time, Aori glance over to Sasuke, who was just finishing up the last of his meal. He nodded, and she turned to Tsunade.

"Because they didn't deserve what happened to them…" Tsunade growled, getting more and more frustrated with this red-headed girl by the second.

"Would you care to elaborate that for me, Aori?" Aori blinked.

"No, I wouldn't." That was the last straw for the short-tempered Hokage. Faster than a person could blink, she had whipped around the chair Aori was sitting in, grabbing it by both arms, her nose mere inches from the girls.

"Listen to me you rude, little brat. You attacked three of my ninjas, and I have every reason to arrest you, and I mean EVERY reason. Now, I've tried being nice and civil, but when you feed me crackpot answers like you just gave me, you tread on very dangerous ground. Now, TELL THE TRUTH." Aori listened to the woman rant all of this, the only sign of her anger the clenching of her teeth. When Tsunade stopped to catch her breath, Aori opened her mouth to retort, but was stopped by Sasuke stepping in between the two of them.

"Tsunade-sama, not to disrespect you, but you're out of line. I know for a fact that every single answer that she has given to your questions is the truth. If you don't believe it, that's your problem, but do not take it out on an honest person." Tsunade stared at him.

"You're telling me that every single word that this girl has said has been _true_?" Sasuke nodded. "She hasn't lied to me, not once." Sasuke shook his head. "And you would be willing to bet your Uchiha blood line on that?" Sasuke grimaced at the reference, but nodded his head again. Tsunade let out a sigh, running her hand over her face.

"Very well then. If you believe her, and will swear on your blood line,I guess that I should consider her answers to be truthful too…" She turned to the blank-faced girl, giving her a weary smile.

"Please forgive me Aori. This job is stressful, and I can often misjudge people." Aori nodded her head, signifying that the Hokage had her forgiveness.

"Just one last question for you then. You may leave afterwards." At this both Sasuke and Aori nodded.

"How is it, that you, an untrained, seventeen-year-old girl, was able to heal three men that I, a master healer, could do _nothing_ for?" Aori let out a soft sigh before answering.

"That, Hokage, is something that I do not plan on telling anybody for a long time." Sasuke and Tsunade frowned at thecryptic answer, but Tsunade had promised that they could leave, so she had to let them.

"Very well, you may go now." Sasuke and Aori bowed their head in thanks, then stood up, heading for the door.

"Oh, I forgot to ask…" The two teens froze, turning back to look at Tsunade.

"Aori, where are you going to be staying, if you are staying in Konoha?" Aori looked at Sasuke, who answered for her.

"She is going to be staying in one of the guest rooms of the Uchiha clan house, Hokage-sama. Her and I both thought that it would be best." From the girl's previous reaction to strangers, Tsunade had to agree.

"Alright then. Good day to you both. Aori, just _try_ to not hurt anybody please, and welcome to Konoha."

* * *

Well, what do you guys think?

Sasuke: ... ... ... Aori, how in the world do you eat so much food and not gain weight?

Aori: Giggles That's a secret...

Sasuke: Huffs Everything is a secret with you...

Aori: Giggle

Sasuke: Grumble

... Riiiight. Well then, we'll just leave their opinions out for right now...;


	8. Aori Faces a Crowd

AAAAHHHHH! Thanks to those who reviewed my 7th chapter Here's chapter 8, sorry if it seems a little short, but I figured that I was at a good stopping point I hope you all like it PLEASE PEOPLE! REVIEW! I DON'T KNOW WHAT I NEED TO FIX IF YOU WON'T REVIEWTT

* * *

Ch. 8

Once outside of Hokage's office, Sasuke let out a small sigh, sliding down the wall.

"That was stressful…" Aori just stood beside him, not replying. After a few minutes of silence, Sasuke stood back up, his usual self again.

"Well, I guess that we should head for my house then." Aori nodded, but stopped when Sasuke turned to regard her directly.

"Aori, I have to warn you, my house is on the other side of the village, and right now, jumping across rooftops, although preferable, is not acceptable, with me just suddenly appearing… We are going to have to walk through the center of the village." Sasuke watched as Aori's face paled. Her teeth clenched, and her head turned to the floor, thinking. After a few seconds, she slowly, hesitantly nodded.

"Alright then. You don't have to say anything, or even look at anyone if you don't want to, but, and I'm just warning you from experience, people will want to talk to me, ask me questions, annoy me…" At the bitterness in his voice at the last words he said, Aori looked at him. Something resembling irritation had forced its way onto his face. The only thing was, with his nose and eyes crinkled like that, his face was hilariously distorted. Aori giggled slightly. Sasuke looked at her like she had sprouted horns.

"What?"

"Your face just then… It was quite silly."

"Yeah? Well, you see what it's like… Having people fawn over you…" Their voices faded into the distance as they walked down the hall, Sasuke still making a one-sided argument/conversation to the now silent girl. Tsunade gently pushed the crack in her door shut.

"That girl…"

* * *

"Sasuke!"

"Uchiha Sasuke!"

"Look! Sasuke's back!"

Aori stuck close to Sasuke's side as he walked with his head held high through the streets. Crowds had begun to form the minute he had stepped out of Hokage's tower, and already people had approached him, welcoming him back. Aori didn't like it at all.

"SASUSKEEEEEEE!" Sasuke stopped dead in his tracks at the high-pitched squeal.

"Oh no…" He muttered, before turning to his left, "Hi Sakura…" Sakura rushed out of the crowd, latching onto his arm.

"Oh Sasuke, you're really back! I have soooooo much to ask you. Where were you this whole time? What happened to Orochimaru? How did you get back here? Goodness you've grown. Do you like my hair?" Sasuke was doing all he could to keep up with the excited girls fast-paced tirade. She had already seen him, but was still all hyper. He swore she must have learned to not breathe, or something…

"Sasuke, who was that girl that was with you yesterday?" This time there was a hint of jealousy in Sakura's voice.

"Oh! Uhm, Sakura, meet Aori…" At this, he detached Sakura's hand from his arm and pushed her towards Aori. He saw Aori stiffen, swallow hard, the only signs of her nervousness, before she began to speak.

"It's a pleasure to mee-

"You stay away from Sasuke y'hear! He's mine, and nobody, NOBODY, will stand in my way. So just keep way from him, or I'll make sure you do!" Sasuke had to work to keep his face smooth at the look on Aori's face. She was amazed at the speed this girl could change from cheerful to jealous to angry, and keep up her fast paced speaking. Aori looked over at him, clearly asking for some support, and he placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder.

"You'd better relax Sakura." His voice had taken a slightly colder tone. "You're going to be seeing a lot more of Aori. She's going to be staying in the Uchiha household…"

The way that Sakura's jaw dropped was almost comical. Sasuke put a hand on Aori's shoulder to steer her past Sakura then removed his hand. Sakura turned to stare and Sasuke waved back at her.

"See you around Sakura…"

A few minutes later, Sasuke noticed a frown on Aori's face.

"What's wrong?"

"That girl…She was very excited to see you…And you were not excited to see her…?" Sasuke let out a small sigh. He wasn't good at explaining things like this…

"Sakura was part of a team of three ninjas. I was one of them, she was the other, and the last was the blond man you attacked a few days ago. See, she has a…" Sasuke trailed off.

"She has a what?"

"She has a crush on me. A very annoying, very unfortunate crush."

"Oh…" They walked in relative silence for a few more minutes (People around them were staring and chattering) before Aori spoke again.

"What's a crush?" Sasuke stopped and almost fell over as Aori walked into him. Her hand whipped out and grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back on balance. He turned to stare at her.

"You've never heard of a crush…"

"No." Sasuke rubbed his hand across his face.

"Oh boy…" They began to walk again, approaching the center of the village, and Sasuke began to try and explain a crush.

"Erm… A crush is like, where you think someone is attractive, aaaaand, you kind of, like really, admire them… I think… I've never actually had a crush so I'm probably not the best person to explain." Sasuke's face grew slightly red as he talked. Aori just blinked.

"Okay." They kept walking in silence.

As they neared the center square, a sound began to rise. Sasuke frowned.

"What the…?" They had reached the beginning of the square. It was filled with villagers, all hoping to catch a glimpse of him and see if he was really back.

"You've got to be KIDDING me!" Sasuke growled out. He felt a sudden stillness beside him and turned to Aori. The color had drained from her face completely, and he could see that the muscles in her face were taut. He gently grabbed her forearm, and she snapped her head over to look at him.

"Easy. They won't hurt you. They're all here for me… We just have to make it through this crowd and then we'll be almost there." He knew she was nervous, although she didn't look any different from normal. She nodded stiffly, and Sasuke turned back to the crowd, beginning to forge his way through. A path opened up, making it a little easier, but Aori was stuck to his side like glue on tape.

It was slow going through the crowd. Every few seconds, someone would step forward, welcoming him back, giving him gifts, a little touch on his shoulder to make sure it was actually him, or asking questions about Aori. Sasuke took it all with curt nods and the shortest answers that he could manage. Aori just kept close to him, staring wide eyed at all of the people, and the colors. This was the first really big village she had been in. Her distrust and fear of strangers had made her stick to small, poorer villages.

They kept walking, Sasuke bearing all of the greetings, Aori just taking everything in. The sounds were amazing, and intimidating to her. There were so many different sounds, men and women's voices, screaming babies, laughing children, all pressing in on her in a deafening wave of noise. Sasuke and Aori were about three-quarters of the way through the crowded square when Aori picked out a sound from the others. She turned her head towards the noise.

"Give her back Yukio! Gimme back Ami!" A little girl who looked about eight was pleading with an older boy who appeared to be her older brother. He was laughing meanly, holding the ragged doll in his hand just out of the girl's reach.

"Ami! _Akuta_ would be a better name for this dirty rag." He laughed again, making the girl jump for the doll. Aori growled slightly, stepping away from Sasuke. Sasuke felt her leave and turned, watching her head for the bickering children.

Aori came up behind the fourteen year old boy, tapping his shoulder. He turned to look at her with something like derision on his face.

"Yeah, whaddayou want?" The boy was tall. Aori, a few years older than him, didn't have to bend down to look him in the eye at all.

"I want you to give your sister back her doll." The boy snorted.

"Go to hell!" He turned back to teasing his sister, and before he knew it, he was upside down. A wave of quiet washed over the square, people wondering what the new girl was going to do to the boy she had dangling by his ankles from vines. She just crossed her arms.

"You want to rethink your answer?" The boy hesitated, and the vines grew a bit higher.

"HERE! Here's your stupid doll back! NOW GET THESE VINES OFFA ME!" He pushed the doll into Aori's hands, but Aori just looked at him.

"Say sorry first."

"You gotta be-

"Say it!"

"Alright, alright, jeezus! Sorry already! Can you put me DOWN now?" Aori cracked a small smile, then made a small circling motion with her finger. The plants dropped the boy, who landed on his back. Once he had regained his breath, he leapt up, running as fast as he could through the crowd.

Aori bent down to the little girl, who looked at her fearfully. The older girl smiled kindly.

"Here you go." She held the doll out to the small girl, who took the doll hesitantly, before smiling back at Aori.

"W-what's your name lady?"

"You can call me Aori…" The little girl smiled a bit bigger.

"Thank you Aori-san. My name is Kioko."

"Well Kioko, I think that Ami needs a pretty necklace, don't you?" Looking puzzled, Kioko nodded. Smiling, Aori held up one finger, and it began to glow gold. Kioko gasped, taking a few small steps backwards, but Aori just placed the finger on the dirt. After a few seconds, a small vine burst up, and then a flower opened. Kioko, and anyone who could see it, gasped. The petals were as pale and silver as a full moon.

Gently, Aori broke the flower and stem off, then took the flower and pressed it hard between her hands. When she opened them again, the flower was perfectly dried, the petals shining silver. Aori beckoned for Kioko to come closer, and she took the doll gently. The stem proceeded to wrap itself around the ragged dolls neck.

"There now. Isn't that pretty?" Kioko nodded with shining eyes. Aori beckoned her close, and whispered into her ear.

"I think, that with a hug and a kiss, Ami will feel all better." Kioko did as Aori instructed.

"Thank you Aori-san." She then ran back to her mother, and Aori got up, brushing dirt from her russet dress and not noticing the stares as she walked back to Sasuke. She reached Sasuke's side and realized that he was staring at her as they began to walk again.

"What?"

"It's just that…You don't like people…" Aori turned her head so that she could look at Sasuke directly. There was a puzzled look on his face, the kind that one gets when they think they know someone, but then find out they don't. She sighed slightly.

"I don't like bullies." That was all of an answer that she gave him before turning back to stare at the crowds. Sasuke shrugged a little, but figured he would ask her later, when they weren't in the middle of a crowd.

A minute later, the two of them had left the square for the stillness of a less-traveled back road. Sasuke figured she could use the quiet after the square. A shadow fell over the two of them, and Sasuke let out a sigh. They had reached the Uchiha house.

* * *

As I said at the beginning, tell me what you think

Sasuke: God I hate crowds...

Yeah, well, I needed one in this chapter...

Sasuke: But still, all those people! You know I hate crowds!

Exactly evil laugh

Sasuke: Angry growl No more crowds, or I'm not in the story anymore...

Unfortunately, you have no control over whether or not you are in my story evil laugh again

Sasuke: Why you little-

Talking over obscene words Anyways ladies and gents! Comeback for the next chapter! Before I go, I need to ask an opinion... I will eventually have one or more pairings in this story (I hope) and so I need to know... Sasuke X Aori, or should I do a trio of Sasuke, Aori and Naruto? (The second one idea came to me curtesy of a slightly perverted friendXP) Tell me your opinion, because the readers ALWAYS come first


	9. The House

This chapter is dedicated to the reader who sent me EIGHT reviews. I really apologize, but my sis deleted all of my stuff in my inbox, so I couldn't find your name. I hope dedicating this chapter to you is enough

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Ch 9

Sasuke stepped into the empty house, Aori following behind. It was eerie inside, a layer of dust on everything, and the interior in ruins. It had been a long time since he had been in this house, and no one had dared enter while he was gone. He slowly walked through the hallway, letting his pack thump down onto the dust-covered floor. With a slight brush against his shoulder, Aori walked past him, going to gently put her hand on a door beam.

"This house…It is very lonely…" Sasuke looked at her, all emotion devoid from his face.

"That's nonsense Aori. A house cannot feel anything. Now follow me, I have to show you where you are going to be sleeping…" He led her down the hallway, past more desolate rooms, and took her up the stairs, leading her into the second door on the left. This room was only slightly better than the others condition wise, and there was an even worse layer of dust. It was sparse, a bed, table and dresser the only furniture, with a single closet in the wall to the right.

Aori gently set her pack down on the bed, taking in her new home. Her eyes made their way back to Sasuke's form.

"Thank you, for this. I have never had such a big room before…" Sasuke nodded.

"My room is the last door on the right at the end of this hallway. Under no circumstances are you to go in there, unless I give you permission. Other than that, you are free to go anywhere within this house." Saying that, he turned back, leaving her to stand in the room, staring at where he had just been.

* * *

Slowly, Sasuke made his way back downstairs, picking back up his pack from the hallway. He proceeded to slowly walk through the house, surveying with blank eyes what needed to be fixed or replaced. He stopped when he came to the doorway leading into the back gardens. Looking out, he saw that they were as in much disrepair as the rest of the house.

He really wished that he did not have to be back in this house, but unfortunately, fate had seen otherwise. He turned his back on the gardens, and made his way upstairs. A quick look into Aori's room told him that she had begun to dust the furniture. He snorted, not understanding why she had to do that. He kept going, past her room, past all of the other rooms, until he came to the single door in the house that still had a lock on it. His chakra signature as the key, the door unlocked for Sasuke and he stepped inside, the door sliding shut behind him.

* * *

Aori had just stood there for a minute, after Sasuke had left. She was greatly puzzled by how he was acting. Here he had a whole house, and a grand one at that, but it was in bad condition, and very lonely. She had always been able to sense the feelings of wood, and other such natural things. But Sasuke had scorned her when she told him. That was another thing that was different. Inside of this house, he seemed tense, uneasy, as though he expected a ghost to be following him around.

She frowned, letting her mask go for a moment, worry showing on her striking face, but decided to investigate the matter later. At the present moment, her most pressing need was to clean up this room. She proceeded to the closet, and opened it up. It was fairly large, and there was a broom in there, along with some old rags. She pulled both out, and then thought to open the windows in the room. They were stubborn though, and needed a great deal of force before she finally got them open.

She had finished the dresser, after realizing that she needed to wrap one of the old rags around her nose and mouth to keep from choking, and had just started on the table next to the bed when Sasuke walked by her door. She heard him snort, but decided not to pay him any mind, and continued to dust and clean the room. From the table, she proceeded to sweep the floors, and then she tackled the closet.

Within a few hours, the room was almost sparkling again, except for the bed. Aori frowned. The sheets covering the bed were still filthy, holes and dirt and who-knew-what-else all over them. She pulled them off the bed, leaving the mattress by the open windows to air out. Grabbing the sheets, she made her way downstairs, humming to herself. She paused when she reached the bottom of the stairs, trying to decide which way to go.

Realizing that she wasn't getting anywhere, she huffed and set the sheets down so that she could place her hands on the wood of the house. She closed her eyes, letting a soft gold light infuse her hands.

"House, do you know where I can wash these sheets?" The house, overjoyed at having people in it once again, directed her down the hallway to the left, and out the door at the very end. Aori gasped when she slid it open. She was looking out at a vast, vast garden. True, it was a very unkempt garden, but to her, it was still the most magnificent garden she had ever seen. The sheets in her hands, she slowly wandered through the garden, identifying different plots of land, where various things had once grown, even though all that grew now was weeds.

Eventually, she stopped in front of a large fountain, still in working order. The water that ran from it was crystal-clear, and she nodded in satisfaction.

"This will do…" With that, she knelt next to the fountain and dumped her sheets in, deciding to let them soak for a long time. While they soaked, Aori decided to approach Sasuke about the garden.

She headed back inside, and up the stairs, almost crashing into Sasuke. He looked at her, a little surprised.

"Aori? Why are you in such a rush?" Aori gave him a breathless smile.

"Just the person I wanted to see… Sasuke, may I have permission to use the garden?" Sasuke blinked, confused by what he thought was a very odd question.

"Of course you can… You are allowed to go anywhere and do anything in this house… As long as it does not involve my room." Aori's face broke into a smile, and Sasuke felt his breath hitch from shock. It was the purest, most genuine smile that he had ever seen.

"Thank you Sasuke." Sasuke watched the red-haired girl recede down the stairs, his breath not yet regained. After a minute, he shook his head, bringing himself back to reality.

_I cannot lose focus right now… I have to stay alert until everybody is used to me again, and until the town gets used to Aori…_

Sasuke was brought out of his mind by ninja knocking on the window. He turned to look, and saw Kakashi staring back at him through the misty glass. Scowling, Sasuke walked over and slammed the window open.

"What do you want, Sensei?" Even though Kakashi was not really his teacher anymore, that sense of respect was still ingrained within Sasuke, and so he reverted to his old title for Kakashi. Kakashi just smiled, ignoring the barely contained annoyance in Sasuke's voice.

"Hokage-sama would like to see you. Now. She said she just wants you to come. Leave Aori here." Sasuke sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in a tired fashion.

"All right…Just let me go and tell Aori." He headed down the stairs and out into the unkempt gardens. Aori was bent over the fountain, washing the sheets from her room vigorously. Sasuke walked towards her, and she brought her head up from her work to watch him walk the rest of the way to her.

"Aori, Tsunade-sama wants to see me again, but alone. Will you be all right if I leave you here without any company?" Aori gave him a small smile.

"Yes, I will be fine. Thank you for warning me." She turned back to her sheet, scrubbing hard on a particularly stubborn stain. Sasuke's mouth quirked up in the corner in a small smile as he turned and walked back through the house, stopping outside of the front door to turn and lock it. He turned, and Kakashi was waiting for him a few feet away. Sasuke sighed.

"Let's get this over with…"

* * *

When the house confirmed that Sasuke had gone, Aori stood up, her spine cracking as she stretched. The sheets were hung from a line to dry in the sun, and so she headed back into the house, stopping in the hall to stare at the dusty rooms. She sighed to herself.

"Now, which room to clean first…" A rumble from her stomach decided her. The kitchen would be the first room to clean up. Rolling her sleeves up, she ran upstairs, grabbed her broom and cloth, and headed straight for the kitchen.

* * *

Sasuke lowered himself into the same chair that he had been in a few hours ago. He sat there, staring at Tsunade as she paced in front of him. Finally, she spoke.

"Sasuke, your sudden and unexpected return has caused quite an uproar in Konoha… Not to mention the fact that you brought with you Aori, a strange girl that no one has ever even heard of before. None of this sits well with me. I insist that you must make a formal appearance, with Aori." Sasuke bolted upright in his seat.

"Hokage-sama, you cannot be serious! You know that I don't like crowds, and Aori's demonstration with Naruto, Gai and Kakashi should have been evidence enough that she can't even stand one stranger, let alone a whole crowd!" Tsunade held her hand up as he drew a breath to say more.

"That Sasuke, is exactly why I want her to be introduced in front of one. It will show me that she is able to control herself, and that will allow me to trust her a bit." Sasuke, realizing that Tsunade was right, relaxed back into the chair slightly, a little frustrated.

"How much time do we have to prepare?"

"The Summer Festival is tomorrow night. I expect you both to appear in festival-wear behind the podium at around 8 PM. Am I understood?" Sasuke nodded grudgingly. Tsunade gave a satisfied sound, then turned to her desk to rummage through some papers.

"Now then Sasuke, shall I catch you up on the events of the past four years?"

* * *

Ahhh! I'm sorry it took so long to get the next chapter out TT I have a ton of thanks to give though, to all of those who reviewed, especially to a certain someone. I 'm really sorry, I deleted all of your reviews and don't have your name, so I can't mention you, and that makes me feel really badTT The only way I can make up for it is by dedicating this chapter to you. Your eight reviews really boosted my spirit 


	10. All For Yukatas

Yay! Here it is Chappie 10. I must say, I got this one out much quicker than my last chapter. Thanks to all of my reviewers!

Konoaha: Don't worry, that probably will be the pairing. Thanks for actually reading that part of the last chapter!

Kawaii-Hisui: Who knows...Maybe it can, and you just cannot understand it As for Sasuke's room, that's answered, at least a VERY VERY VERY tiny bit in this chappie

Moonshadow8: Yes, she is opening up a little more, isn't she>. 

NekoGuyFan: You're correct. Something is going to happen at the festival! I just haven't figured out what;

Cocoa-latte: Don't worry! Here's the next chapter for you.

This chapter is dedicated to my friend, codename JJ>. 

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Ch. 10

Sasuke walked into the house, closing the door behind him and sighing. He had been stuck in Tsunade's office for at least 3 hours while she caught him up on all that had happened, and by the time he had been allowed to leave, it was getting dark. He pulled off his shoes before stepping into the hall, and then froze, finally paying attention to his surroundings. Everything was clean, and not just pick-up-your-room clean. The house was sparkling. He blinked.

"Aori! Where are you?"

"In the kitchen!" Sasuke chuckled a little when her head poked out the doorway. Her hair was coming loose from its braid, sticking to her face in some spots from the heat of the kitchen, and there was a bit of flour just below her eye. Walking into the kitchen, his eyebrows raised.

"And here I thought that you had cleaned the house…Not made it worse." There were pans and bowls and utensils piled in the sink, and bits of flour, dough and other things all over the counters. Aori glared at him.

"I cleaned the kitchen first. I just used it a lot after finishing all of the other rooms." Sasuke chuckled again, and then, not being completely sure of what made him do it, he reached out a pulled a strand of hair off her face. Aori froze immediately, the knuckles on her hands white, her eyes letting fear flash across their purple surfaces. Sasuke saw this, and drew back, looking anywhere but at her, with a slight red tinge on his cheeks.

"Sorry… I forgot that you-

"It's alright… Just please warn me next time…" Sasuke let out his breath, relieved that she wasn't mad at him.

"All right, I will… So, what's for dinner?" Aori relaxed again, and then smiled at his question.

"A recipe from a magazine that I found buried in the attic… It's called 'American Cooking'… A few looked interesting, so I tried them. These are called hamburgers," She pointed to the brown patties of beef nestled between two pieces of bread, "and these are called French fries." She proceeded to pull out a plate and lay a hamburger and some golden-baked potato slices on it, handing the plate to Sasuke. He looked at the food.

"Ummm, are you sure that this is safe to eat?" He poked at the hamburger with a cautious finger. He missed Aori's glare, and only realized he had offended her when a hot fry hit the side of his face, making him yelp.

"JEEZ! What was that for!"

"I made the food. Of course it's safe to eat." Sasuke raised his eyebrows again at her boast, but bit into the meat anyways. His eyes widened as his taste buds were blown away. The meat was juicy and tender, and it tasted like Aori had added garlic in at some point giving it a rich, hearty flavor.

" 'is is goo-…" Sasuke tried to say 'This is good' but his mouth was too full of meat to make out all of the proper syllables. Aori smiled at his mumbled complement, then sat down and began to eat as well.

* * *

When dinner had been eaten, and the kitchen cleaned, Aori headed out back, into the cool spring breeze, the smell of spices on the wind. She jumped up into an old oak tree and sat down, unbraiding her hair and letting it blow since she was alone. She leaned against the warm trunk of the tree and smiled softly when leafy branches tickled her face and legs.

"Stop that now, and maybe I can take care of those caterpillars eating your leaves…" The tree's branches pulled away, and Aori stood up on the branch, climbing higher, pulling certain branches to her every now and then to pull caterpillars from the leaves. She ended up falling asleep, nestled in the branches of the tree, never noticing the lit window on the second floor.

* * *

Sasuke had retreated to his room after helping Aori clean up the kitchen. He shut and locked his door behind him, turning on a lamp to reveal sparse furnishings. There was an elegant bed in the corner, covered with silken blue sheets, and a single TV across from that. But the TV screen had been broken long ago. Sasuke looked at it, remembering…

"_GOD DAMMIT! THEY CANCELED MY SHOW!"_

_Sasuke watched silently as Itachi threw a kunai through the screen, causing the circuits in the TV to sizzle and burn out. He stared at his brother with onyx-black eyes. He didn't move until his mother and father walked into the room._

_"Just WHAT is going on here!" Their father was livid, as he looked from the two boys to the now broken TV. Itachi quickly pointed at Sasuke._

_"It was Sasuke father… He was watching a show, when it was cancelled suddenly, and he threw a kunai threw the screen." Sasuke just blinked his large eyes again, knowing that it was useless to protest. He had learned long ago that Father was more likely to believe Itachi. He just stayed quiet, taking his punishment without complaint. Truth be told, his heart had already begun to close up slightly, building a protective wall ever since his brother had begun to accuse and abuse him…_

Sasuke blinked, coming out of his mind to realize that his hands were shaking slightly. He grimaced at his sign of weakness, shoving his hands into the pockets on his shorts. A flash of deep red outside caught his attention. He made his way to the window and halted, staring. Aori had climbed up the tallest, biggest, oldest oak tree in the yard, and looked like she was…talking to it. Sasuke shook his head, hard.

"That can't be… Trees don't have the power of awareness." Doing a double take, he shook his head in disbelief. Aori was truly talking to this tree. As he watched, she climbed up into the higher branches of the tree, appearing to pull of small insects from leaves every now and then. He realized that she had unbraided her hair, and it was much longer than it looked, reaching her heels very easily when there was no wind.

He watched her for another half hour or so, until she curled up in the branches and fell asleep. He sighed, then left his room, heading down the stairs and out into the back gardens. Walking up to the tree, he jumped to the first branch he could reach and then began to climb. After a few minutes, he frowned, for Aori didn't seem any closer. He took a closer look and realized that the tree was lifting the branch she slept on higher and higher.

Sasuke let out a frustrated huff, then shook his head, thinking himself crazy for what he was about to do.

"Venerable oak, you have my guest nestled in your branches. I would be very grateful if you would lower her down, so that I may take her to her room." He blinked as the oak seemed to shiver, and the branches lowered. Within a few seconds, Aori was level with Sasuke. He gently picked her up off the branch, and then jumped down, carrying her inside. He paused at one point, letting out a weak chuckle.

"I talked to a tree…"

As he was walking, Aori turned in his arms, murmuring softly and burying her face into his chest. Sasuke could feel his face heating up, but luckily, he had reached her room, and he quickly lay her down on the bed. He backed away, his footsteps soft, closing her door behind him, then headed down the hall and disappeared into his own room.

* * *

A beam of light fell across Aori's eyes and she frowned, pulling the bed covers over herself.

_Wait a minute…Bed covers!_

She sat straight up, looking around frantically. After a minute, she realized that she was in her room in Sasuke's house. She frowned, clearly remembering that she had fallen asleep in the old oak's branches. Puzzled, she stood from the bed and walked to a wall, placing a gloved palm on it.

"Do you know how I wound up in my bed?" The house laughed a little at her question, then replied that its master, the Uchiha had carried her in. Aori gave her thanks and then slowly drew her palm back, a thoughtful look in her eyes. She had thought that she was dreaming last night, when she felt warmth, and the smell of… she smiled when she recognized it… peaches.

She walked to the door, opening it before catching sight of herself in the mirror. Getting a good look at her reflection, she grimaced. Her hair was horribly tangled, and there were little sticks and leaves everywhere.

"Stupid hair…" She grumbled to herself, then grabbed a brush off of the dresser and began to tackle the mess.

* * *

Sasuke walked from his room in his dark blue pajamas, yawning. He walked down the hallway in a lazy manner, passing Aori's room so that he could get to the bathroom. Just past her doorway, he halted, turning around to peek back into Aori's room. Aori was sitting on her bed, grumbling to herself. She was brushing her hair, but having a hard time doing it. It seemed that she had difficulty in reaching all the way to the end of her red locks. Sasuke laughed a little, then stepped into the room, clearing his throat. Aori jumped a little, then looked up at him, her cheeks turning a little pink.

"Um, would you like some help?" Aori's actually paled a little, but she nodded softly. Sasuke walked over as she stood up, and took the brush from her hands. Turning her around to face away from him, he began to brush out the tangles and leaves, amazed at how soft her hair was, even in knots.

"Geez Aori, what do you use on your hair?" He couldn't see it, but Aori smiled softly at his question.

"Egg, milk and a bit of cow's blood" Sasuke's hand froze mid-stroke.

"Cow's blood…!"

"Yes. The proteins in the blood work wonders…" Sasuke just shook his head and began to brush her hair out again. Once he was done and Aori had moved to put the brush on her dresser, Sasuke decided to mention the festival.

"Aori…When I went to talk with the Hokage yesterday, she requested that both you and I appear at the Summer Festival, for a formal introduction…" Aori froze, and Sasuke didn't need to see her face to know that it had gone white. He went on, speaking quietly.

"She also hinted that if you did not show up, it would give her reason not to trust you…" Aori stood at her dresser, her back to Sasuke. There was no sound, and no movement, the room quiet enough that dust could be heard hitting the ground. Aori finally broke the stillness, nodding very slowly. Sasuke let out a little sigh. He had feared that she would refuse to go. Going to stand at the dresser with her, he tried to explain what they had to do next.

"Since this is a festival, we have to go in formal yukatas… Unfortunately, this house is pretty much devoid of any clothing like that. We have to go out into the town." He saw Aori shiver a little.

"Aori?"

"Alright. If we must we must…" Her voice was shaky, but strong.

"Now, if you will excuse me, I need to bathe." Sasuke watched Aori recede down the stairs, heading for the first floor bathroom.

As he stepped into the second floor bathroom, Sasuke paused, a slight frown on his face. He had never shown Aori the bathroom on the first floor. The timber of the house let out a slight creak. Sasuke looked at it, then shook his head, speaking quietly to himself.

"It couldn't be…"

* * *

When Sasuke finally made his way downstairs, Aori was standing quietly near the front entrance, her normal clothes in her place and her black shoes on her feet. She looked up and gave a small smile as he came closer.

"You take a very long time to bathe…" Sasuke glowered at her, making her laugh a little. When he opened the front entrance, she sobered up quickly. Sasuke looked at her, knowing that she was scared behind her emotionless mask of a face.

"Come on." He stepped outside, Aori following him like a shadow. He slid the door closed, and they headed towards the market district of Konoha.

* * *

They had not been walking for more than ten minutes when a loud squeal echoed off from their left.

"SASUKE!" Sasuke and Aori froze immediately, Sasuke's teeth gritting. He had just enough time to look over at Aori.

"Don't attack he-

He was cut off as Sakura collided with his midriff, pushing the air from his lungs with her frantic hug. Sasuke flicked his eyes to Aori, her eyes intense, a hand hovering over one of the concealed weapons on her person. He shook his head, and she balled her hand into a fist, letting the arm hang at her side.

Assured that Aori would not do anything rash, Sasuke turned his attention to the still-squealing kunoichi that was crushing his ribs with her enthusiasm.

"Goddamit Sakura! Get OFF of me!" He peeled the pink-haired woman from his body, and relaxed when she didn't charge him again. She just stood looking at him, her eyes shining, her mouth gushing endless words.

"OHSASUKE!It'ssoooooooooogoodtoseeyou. Whenyoudidn'tshowupagainafterthefightwiththatgirlIwasworriedthatyouhadbeenhurt!Youweren'thurtwereyou?Whydidyoutrytohelpthatcrazygirlanyways?FromwhatIcouldseeshewas_really_craz-

Sasuke cut of the waterfall of text by slamming his hand over Sakura's mouth. When he was sure that Sakura would not bust out talking again, he took his hand from her mouth, backing up to stand next to Aori, making Sakura finally notice her. She shrieked and backed up quickly, pointing at Aori in a horrified manner.

"OH MY GOD! LOOK OUT SASUKE! IT'S THAT GIRL! SHE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU!" Sasuke grimaced, and snapped at her when she finally stopped screeching.

"Shut-up Sakura, and use your head for once. Does it seriously look like Aori is attacking me?" Sakura blinked, slightly dazed.

"Aori?"

"Yes, that would be her name."

"Her name…" Sasuke rolled his eyes. Sakura wasn't following this at all.

"Yes. She also is staying at my house, and we have hot and heavy sex every night." That got a reaction.

"…WHAT!" Sasuke snorted disdainfully at her reaction.

"It's about time…" He turned to face Aori, and saw that her mouth was quivering. He frowned.

"What's wrong?" Aori choked out an answer in a thick voice.

"Her…face…" Sasuke blinked, not quite comprehending until he turned to look at Sakura. Her face was a dark, blotchy red, with smaller pink bits all over. Sasuke snorted again, this time from amusement, not disdain. Sakura's face got darker as Sasuke turned to Aori.

"C'mon Aori, we still have to get some dre-

Sasuke froze as a hand landed heavily on his shoulder. He turned to see a _very_ angry Sakura holding him back.

"Sasuke, is what you just said…true?" The tone of voice she used caused even Sasuke to shudder a little.

"No, it isn't. I just said that to get your attention."

"So…She ISN'T living in the same house as you, and you AREN'T having hot sex?" Sasuke rolled his eyes as he pulled Sakura's hand from his shoulder.

"No, we aren't having any sort of sexual interaction at all. But her living with me is true." He winced as her hand slammed back onto his shoulder, her nails digging into his skin a little.

"She IS living with you?" Sasuke growled, beginning to get annoyed.

"YES Sakura. Aori is living wit-

Her fist slammed against his face and Sasuke went flying into the air, landing painfully on his back. He could hear what sounded like struggling, and screeching, but the little brightly colored dots hadn't quite left his eyes yet. When they had, he looked around him and found Sakura on the ground, Aori kneeling on her midriff with a kunai to the pink-haired kunoichi's throat. He scrambled up, cursing under his breath, and pulled Aori off Sakura, turning her to face him.

"Aori, you _can't_ do that!" Aori blinked, Sakura finally beginning to pull herself up behind them.

"But she hit you…" Sasuke sighed, letting Aori's shoulders go.

"That's what Sakura does when she's angry." Aori gave a mistrustful glance to Sakura.

"Just don't pay attention to it. She never hurts me that badly." Sasuke saw Aori clench her jaw, and nod slowly. He let out a small sigh of relief. He grabbed her forearm and began to pull her towards the square again, turning over his shoulder to look at Sakura as they walked away.

"Sakura. When you can talk to Aori and I like a civil person, then you may feel free to get within 5 feet of me. Until that time, don't." With that, he and Aori disappeared down a side street, leaving Sakura staring shocked at the point where they had turned.

* * *

Once Sasuke was sure that Sakura wasn't following them, he let go of Aori's arm, leaning up against the building they were next to and massaging his face were Sakura had hit him.

"Damn…Her punches have gotten better." He pulled his hand away and blood came off on his fingers. He had cut his cheek on a rock. Aori's eyes flicked over to him as they caught the red.

"You're bleeding." It wasn't a question. Sasuke let out a little huff.

"It's all right. It's nothing serious. See, the blood is already clotting. Come on, let's go." He started down the street, eventually hearing the soft hiss of cloth that signified Aori's following.

Within a few minutes, Sasuke stopped, standing at the door of an unremarkable looking building. He turned to Aori, a small smile on his face.

"This is it… Tanchou Yukatas. This is the best yukata/ kimono shop in Konoha. Come, let's go in." So saying, Sasuke pulled open the door, and disappeared into the semi-darkness. Aori hesitated, and then slowly walked into the building, the shining knife on the end of her braid being the last thing to disappear into the gloom.

* * *

All right! I can't wait for your reviews>. 


	11. The Eye of a Woman

So, here it is, 3 mo.s later...Chapter 11! Cringes Don't hurt me TT. I'd like to thank all of my reviewers! Oh, and I would especially like to thank the one person who criticized the story It helped remind me that there IS room for improvement. Oh, yeah, also on that note.

FLAMERS: Don't even bother. Your reviews will be given less-than-zero of my attention.

CRITICIZE: As long as it is constructive, I welcome criticize. If you read something you don't like, tell me what, and if there's anything I can do to fix it, tell me that too! Just take heed of what I have written about flames. If you leave something like "This story sucks!" or something that I'm sure would be much more inventive, it will be IGNORED.

...Anywho, here's chapter 11! Enjoy

* * *

Ch. 11

When Aori's eyes had finally adjusted to the lower light, they widened. Lying out in front of her were yukatas of every size, color and make. Formal ones, casual ones, spring and winter ones. It was the largest amount of yukatas she had ever seen in her life.

Sasuke was waiting for her in the middle of this room, a small smile quirked his mouth at the expression on her face. He opened his mouth to say something, but stopped as a man walked in.

"Hey! What are you doing here! Customers aren't allowed back here. So come on, get out!" Sasuke look at Aori, raising his eyebrows, and she relaxed, though her hand still hovered over her pants, ready to grab a kunai. Sasuke turned to the man.

"Surely now you haven't forgotten me, Yukio-san?" Aori saw the man's eyes widen, and then he broke into a smile and a bow.

"Sasuke-san! Yours is a face that has not been seen around here for many years." Yukio let out a joyous laugh. "It is good to see you again." Aori blinked as she saw Sasuke's mouth break into a genuine smile, one that lit up his normally moody face.

"As it is you, Yukio-san. Oh, I should introduce you to my guest." Sasuke turned and beckoned Aori forward. She moved stiffly, tense and nervous. She reached Sasuke's side and halted, eyeing the man in front of her. He was slightly taller than her, balding, and a little flabby. A quick look at Sasuke told her that she was safe. She bowed quickly, and then moved back a few feet again. Yukio frowned, confused.

"What's up with her? And who is she?" Sasuke sighed.

"Her name is Aori. She is my guest at the Uchiha house. She doesn't like strangers too much, so just let her be." Yukio just shrugged, focusing on Sasuke again.

"So Sasuke-san…What brings you to this fine store today?"

"Aori and I need formal yukatas for the Summer festival tonight. We were alerted that we would be guests of honor on…" Sasuke made a face "…short notice." Yukio nodded in understanding, and then headed over to a full rack of yukatas.

"Well Sasuke-san, I do believe I have just the yukata for you." He rummaged through the hanging yukatas, and eventually pulled one off the rack. It was black, with golden koi swimming up and down its length. Sasuke stepped forward, taking the yukata from Yukio and looking at it closely. After a precise inspection, Sasuke handed the yukata back to Yukio, nodding.

"I'll take it."

"Very good! Let me just go and ring up the-

"No." Both men turned to look at Aori, puzzled. She was standing next to a haphazard pile of old, worn yukatas.

"No what Aori?" She shrugged softly.

"No, not that yukata. Not for you." At her words, Yukio's eyebrows rose, and he stepped forward, slightly insulted.

"And why not this yukata miss? It is one of the best ones we own, and I have been in this business much longer than you have, I'm sure." She shook her head again.

"Not that one. This one is much better." She turned rummaging through the pile of old yukatas. Sasuke sighed, and Yukio frowned.

"Have you gone mad miss? There is nothing of value in that pile. Those are all rags." Aori shook her head, her red locks flying as she dug through the pile.

"No, these two are different." Sasuke was frowning now as well, and both he and Yukio moved forward when Aori finally straightened.

"Aori, did you just say two?" Her only response was to turn, revealing fabric overflowing from her arms. She carefully placed her precious bundle on the floor, and then held up one of the yukatas she had dug out. Yukio's eyes widened, and he dropped the yukata he held. Sasuke looked at him.

"Yukio-san?" He just moved forward, to look closer at the yukata. It was a yukata of deep blue silk, with silvery-red dragons flowing over the surface. Their embroidery was so delicate it seemed almost as if their scaled bodies undulated over the cloth, their eyes glowing.

"This…this is a Mythical yukata…" Sasuke frowned, confused.

"A mythical yukata?"

"Yes. It is one of a set. This one has dragons, the other phoenixes. They are one of a kind, the rarest and most expensive yukatas in the world. They are said to have been made by gods… But they were supposed to have perished long ago. That they have been here, all this time…Is amazing…" Yukio moved to hold up the other yukata, treating it as a gossamer spider's web that might break at the slightest touch. This yukata was a pale green, and had three large, graceful phoenixes embroidered around its length. They glimmered a fiery red and orange, again their embroidery seeming to make them move, flap their wings, and look about gracefully. Sasuke blinked.

"And you're saying that Aori just found these…In a pile of old yukatas."

"Yes. You two must be destined to wear them. Speaking of which…try them on!" Sasuke looked at Yukio, extreme shock on his face.

"Try them on?" Yukio looked at Sasuke like a teacher at a five-year old.

"Yes, try them on. Your friend here found them, so you two are obviously meant to wear them, but you should still try them on to make sure they fit." Sasuke looked at Yukio like he was mad, but decided to play along.

"Ok…" He stepped forward, reaching for the one Yukio held, only to have him pull it away.

"Yukio-san! What-

"Not this one! This is a women's yukata. Yours is the one the miss holds." Sasuke sighed.

"Fine, whatever." He grabbed the deep blue yukata from Aori and slipped into a dressing room to pull it on. Out in the room, Aori cautiously accepted the phoenix yukata from Yukio.

"There is a dressing room for you to try this on in right next to his miss." She nodded her thanks and then slipped inside to try on the brilliant yukata.

A few minutes, Sasuke stepped from his dressing room, looking impressed despite himself. The blue yukata fit him well, and the color made his skin and hair extremer than usual, his skin looking pure and delicate as snow, his hair fierce and dark, like the eye of a hurricane.

"Impressive. Aori did good when she found these…" He looked at himself carefully in a mirror, and then turned to Yukio.

"How much would you like for this yukata, Yukio-san?" Yukio shook his head, staring at Sasuke awe struck.

"I cannot ask for payment. This yukata found you. I did not find it for you." Sasuke let out a small, irritated growl.

"I refuse to take the yukata without paying Yukio. Tell me how much you want for it."

"No! Take it for free! I cannot ask for payment!"

"I'm paying you whether you want it or not!"

"No!" Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but stopped at the sound of a door creaking. He and Yukio both turned to look at the door to Aori's changing room. She had opened it enough that she could stick her head out.

"…I've changed…" Sasuke raised his eyebrows.

"Well, why don't you come out then, so that we can see how it looks?" Aori stood there, hesitating, and Sasuke had to fight to keep a smile from his face. Although she showed no more emotion that usual, Sasuke had a feeling that Aori was a little embarrassed.

"Well? Come on out." With a reluctant push, Aori opened the door the rest of the way and stepped out softly. Sasuke's eyes widened and a gasp escaped from Yukio's mouth.

The pale green of the yukata accented Aori's skin, making it tanner, and adding rose to her cheeks. The phoenixes seemed almost content now, their embroidery now just shimmering softly. Their red-orange hues also added to Aori's color, making her deep red hair seem even redder, and rich. Aori fidgeted, uncomfortable under the stares of the two in front of her.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke blinked, and looked at her.

"Huh? Oh… Aori, do you like the yukata?" Aori nodded softly.

"Alright then." Sasuke turned back to Yukio.

"I will take both of them. How much do you want for them?"

"I've already _told_ you Sasuke-san, I cannot accept payment for them! They aren't mine to ask money for!" Sasuke sighed, and pulled a small purse from his pocket, opening it and pulling out 400,000 yen. He took the money and placed it into Yukio's hands.

"Accept it from me as a friend then, Yukio-san, for I will pay you no matter what." Yukio seemed to deflate as his hands closed around the money.

"Alright…Well, change out of the yukatas and I can package them for you." Aori and Sasuke did as Yukio bid them and waited silently for a few minutes. Yukio returned from another room, handing Sasuke two carefully wrapped square packages.

"I would take them out of the wrapping as soon as you get home." Sasuke nodded his thanks and then he and Aori left through the back door again, blinking as they stepped into the light. Aori turned to Sasuke.

"Would you like me to carry one?"

"Yeah, thanks. Here." Sasuke handed one of the parcels over to Aori, moving his own under one arm as he began retracing their earlier steps along the street, Aori walking softly beside him.

* * *

Sasuke shut the door behind him with a small sigh. He and Aori had managed to make it home without meeting any of Sasuke's other year-mates, but that had not stopped him from tensing up outside. Aori just stood in the hallway in front of him silently, her eyebrows slightly raised.

"Did you not want to go out Sasuke? You seem happy to be back inside…" Sasuke shook his head.

"No, it's not that. It's just…I didn't want to have to face any of the kids I went to the academy with…" Aori tilted her head to the right.

"But aren't they your friends?" Sasuke shrugged.

"I don't know…I guess Naruto…But no one else really…"

"Naruto?" Sasuke's eyes flicked to look at Aori.

"The blond haired guy you attacked." Aori allowed herself to look a little ashamed.

"Oh." Sasuke looked at her, slightly amused.

"Don't be ashamed about attacking him." He snickered a little, making Aori look at him weirdly.

"I'm never going to let him forget it! You beat him without even laying a finger on him." Aori looked at him blankly for a moment.

"That is an exact reason why I should be ashamed…It was unsportsmanlike." Sasuke let out a very unSasuke-like snort.

"Trust me, he's done worse, and more likely than not, he'll have already forgiven you, as long as you promise to spar with him sometime. He can't STAND being beaten." Aori just blinked again. After an uncomfortable few quiet minutes, Sasuke cleared his throat softly.

"Well, I guess we need to start getting ready… The festival is in a few hours." Aori nodded, and turned to head upstairs before Sasuke stopped her with a touch on her arm.

"Do you know how to put on make-up, and make your hair in a special way? This is a very important festival and…" His voice faded at the gentle glare coming from Aori, and he stepped back.

"Alright! Sorry for worrying." Aori just shook her head softly and made her way up to her room, closing the door softly behind her. Sasuke caught himself sighing, something he had been doing a lot. He looked down at the parcel in his hands.

"I guess I should start getting ready too…"

* * *

Sasuke paced impatiently in the welcome-room of his house. Aori had gone up to get ready 3 hours ago, and it was nearing 7:30 and she hadn't come out of her room. He was struggling with whether to go knock on her door or whether to wait a little longer when he heard soft foot falls on the stairs. He stopped pacing to blink at the vision that assaulted his eyes.

Aori had taken a bath, and her hair and skin was radiant. Her hair was still in a long braid, but the braid was made of smaller sections of already braided hair, and that gave it a stunning effect. Sasuke could also see that she did indeed know how to use make-up. Her cheeks were faintly pink, and she had on a smoky red eyeshadow that matched her yukata perfectly. She had on a white shirt under the yukata that came up to the top of her neck again, but the yukata made up for that. The phoenixes appeared to like their hostess, for they glittered and shimmered brilliantly, the color reflecting off of Aori's face.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke blinked hard.

"Sorry. You look great." Aori gave him a small smile.

"You look good too." It was true. Sasuke had given his hair a thorough brushing, and it shined a brilliant black and the dragon yukata looked amazing, accenting his shoulders and arms in just the right way. Sasuke blinked.

"Uh. Thanks. Well, shall we get going?" Aori nodded and he turned, offering her his right hand and arm. Aori just stood there, staring at his arm slightly puzzled. Sasuke's eyebrows rose.

"You're supposed to take my hand, Aori." Her eyes flicked up to him, slightly nervous.

"If we enter holding hands, it signifies that you have come to the festival with me. It should make sure that you don't get any…unwanted attention…" Aori blinked, comprehension dawning in her eyes.

"Oh." With that, she slowly reached out her gloved hand and slipped it into Sasuke's hand. Sasuke felt his face heat up a little, and he frowned. Why was he blushing? It was just holding her hand.

"Are we going now Sasuke?" Sasuke looked at her, and then gritted his teeth.

"Yeah…The sooner we go, the sooner we can leave." He stepped out into the empty night-darkened street with Aori, and they headed toward the central square, where they could see lights and masses of people awaiting them. Sasuke felt Aori's hand tighten on his a fraction of an inch, and he looked over at her.

"You won't do anything…rash…tonight, right?" Aori looked at him solemnly.

"I will not attack someone unprovoked." Sasuke sighed, knowing that was the best he would get.

"Come on… Let's head over before we're late." They took one step, then another, and a third, heading towards the brightly twinkling lights amidst the blackness.

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Well, tell me what you thought. Oh, one little question for all of my readers. I'm trying to decide if Aori should fall for just Sasuke, or Sasuke and Naruto. Now, I know that seems a little-er-slutty, but Naruto ends up being a big part of the story line, so yeah. Lemme know in your review


	12. The Festival Begins

Waaaaaaaaah! Gomennasaiiiiiiiiiii! I know, it's been a loooooooong time since I posted a new chapter, and for that I sincerely apologize to all of you, but it's just the way I am TT Anyhow, I finally finished this chapter, so read read read away, and review. You can critisize but **PLEASE MAKE YOUR CRITICISM CONSTRUCTIVE!** That means no flames please. If you don't like something in my story, tell me what, and how I can fix it if it wouldn't require re-writing whole chapters. Well...That's about all I can think of to write here...

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Ch. 12

As Sasuke and Aori drew closer to the festival grounds, they came across more and more crowds. Sasuke could tell Aori was getting nervous, her hand tightening fractionally around his, her body moving an inch closer to him, her face going a shade paler. When they reached the entrance to the festival, Sasuke paused for a moment, drawing Aori off to the side.

"Are you sure you want to do this Aori?" She looked at him steadily.

"I am su-"

"Well well well…If it isn't _Sasuke_." Both Sasuke and Aori turned at the loud voice to see the blonde ninja from their first day they had arrived, clothed in a brown yukata with koi on it. He stood in a ruffian's pose, his legs slightly splayed and his arms crossed. He looked at them both with a mischievous grin slapped on his face. Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"What the hell do you want, Dobe?" The grin fell from the blonde's face.

"Shut-up _Teme!_" Aori let out a soft snort, causing both ninja to look at her. Sasuke had said that this man was the closest thing he had to a friend, and yet the first thing they did was insult one another. Realizing the two were still staring, she gave a slight bow.

"Forgive me. I just find this quite amusing…" The blonde stared at her for a moment, then his eyes widened in recognition and he rushed over to her, shoving his face in hers. Aori tensed immediately, her hands going to the side of her legs before she halted them and simply stepped back.

"Hey! You're the girl from that day!" She blinked, and nodded once, stiffly. The ninja backed up a bit and looked at her a bit more closely.

"Yeah, well I wanna tell ya that you're catching me like that was a fluke. No one, and I mean NO ONE can beat the great Naruto Uzumaki!" Aori had relaxed a bit, and fought to keep a smile from her face as her eyes flicked from the ninja, Naruto, to Sasuke, and back to Naruto.

"Was it now?" Naruto gave Aori a 300-watt grin.

"Yup. Ya know what, I'm even willing to forgive you for doing that to me, on one condition." Aori raised one eyebrow slightly, still fighting a smile from her face. She liked this loud, cheerful ninja.

"And what condition would that be?" Naruto grinned even wider, pointing a finger at her.

"You haveta spar with me." Aori blinked, and Sasuke rolled his eyes.

"That's all?" She looked at him in slight disbelief as Naruto nodded emphatically.

"Yup. You're pretty strong for a girl. I wanna see how strong that is." Aori's eyebrows had shot upwards at the 'for a girl' part of Naruto's statement. She opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by a menacing voice.

"And what exactly do you mean by 'pretty strong **for a girl**', Naruto?" Naruto, Sasuke and Aori turned to see Tsunade glaring at Naruto, the look in her eyes deadly enough to scare even the best of assassins. Naruto laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, ah…Ba-chan…Well, ya see…" He was cut off by Tsunade's screaming. Sasuke took the moment to grab Aori's wrist and pull her into the fair grounds. She looked at him.

"We'll catch up with Dobe when he _isn't_ on the bad side of Hokage-sama…She isn't a good person to have mad at you…" Aori blinked, and nodded, understanding dawning on her face.

Sasuke tugged her over to a slightly emptier corner of the fair grounds before letting her wrist go, giving her a chance to look around. She did so, and her eyes widened. Spread across the grounds in front of her was a huge, swirling, pulsing mass of people of every shape and size, in all kinds of kimonos. Her face paled, and she moved to stand a bit closer to Sasuke. He noticed, and glanced down at her.

"Aori?" She jerked her head to look up at him. The corners of her mouth pulled back slightly, and she nodded, signaling that she would be okay. Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped by a loud squealing, drawing closer. Sasuke grimaced as Aori hid a small smile behind her hand. Both knew exactly what the sound meant.

"SASUKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" Aori took a step to the left just in time to avoid being trampled by the hoard of girls reaching for Sasuke. Aori watched in amusement as Sasuke took off running, the crowd of girls behind him causing any in their path to leap out of the way. As Sasuke ran by, he gave her a quick glare, and with that glare went the loss of her self-control. She began giggling, the hand against her mouth just barely keeping her from outright laughter.

As she was giggling, Aori felt someone appear next to her. She whirled to see a…slightly bruised…Naruto staring at the spectacle that was Sasuke's Fan-girls with a grimace on his face. She blinked.

"Um. Naruto?" He turned to look at her, his face set stubbornly. The question was plain in Aori's eyes.

"He deserted the village for four years…and all his fan-girls still love him…" Aori frowned slightly, looking at Naruto closely. She could see resentment hidden in his eyes, jealousy and…loneliness. Her frowned disappeared.

"Naruto. Yo-" She was interrupted as Sasuke whizzed by again, spitting out a quick plea towards Aori.

"AoriIreallycoulduseyourhelprighthereIthinktheyllstopifyoumakeitknownthatyouaremydate!" He kept on running and both Aori and Naruto blinked as the girls all rushed by, screaming and squealing. Naruto raised an eyebrow.

"So…Ya gonna help him out?" Aori glanced at him, and then Sasuke, smoothing a smile from her face to look at Naruto seriously.

"I guess so. Someone has to, or there may not be any Sasuke left." Naruto smirked at that.

"Well, ya better hurry, 'cause here he comes." Aori turned to see Sasuke running towards her again. She flung out her right arm and he grabbed it, holding on tight as she swung him out of the way. The fangirls immediately turned towards them and halted, noticing Aori for the first time. A rustle went through the group, a wind through leaves.

"A girl…"

"Who's she?"

"How dare she touch my Sasuke!"

"A girl…."

By this time Sasuke had composed himself, and he glanced at Aori quickly, sending her a look and mouthing _Play along_. Aori nodded fractionally and Sasuke gave her a tiny grin before grabbing her waist and pulling her close to him. A true actress, she turned into him, wrapping one arm across the front of his neck and the other around his waist. The fangirl-cloud let out a unanimous enraged gasp. Still acting, Aori stared at all the girls out of the corner of her eyes, her lips pouting slightly.

"Sorry girls. He's mine." Like a balloon that had been punctured, the fan girls let out a loud, long wail and dispersed quietly. When the last girl left, only Sasuke, Aori, and the temporarily forgotten Naruto stood there. Aori immediately let go of Sasuke, putting a foot of air in between them, and Naruto took a step towards them, drawing their attention. Both Aori and Sasuke frowned a little at the odd look they found in his eyes.

"That was quite the…little act…you two put on there." Aori's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at the tone of his voice, but Sasuke just shrugged, fixing his still slightly twisted yukata.

"We'd done stuff like that before, when it was needed. This was no big deal." Naruto turned a scorching gaze on Sasuke, a scorching gaze seen only by Aori as Sasuke was looking at his yukata. Naruto opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped when Tsunade appeared in front of Sasuke.

"Ah, Sasuke, there you are. I need you to come with me now, you and I have to have a small talk before I present you on stage." Tsunade took a quick glance at Aori as she spoke, getting her point across to Sasuke. He frowned.

"Hokage-sama, must it be private? You know how Aori is…" Tsunade gave him an appraising look.

"I shouldn't have to worry about Aori being able to control herself, now should I?" Sasuke shuffled slightly at the tone in her voice, and glanced over to Aori. She gestured at Tsunade with her head, and he blinked, sighing.

"No Hokage-sama, you don't have to worry, she'll be fine…Let's just get this over with." Tsunade smiled happily, giving a nod to Naruto and Aori before leading Sasuke off into the crowds.

When Sasuke had disappeared from sight, Naruto shifted to look at Aori, said girl immediately on edge as he gave her a serious look.

"So…what you guys did just there…it really was just acting." Aori looked at him quizzically at this question for a moment, and Naruto was afraid she wouldn't answer, but then she shrugged her shoulders, nodding slightly.

"Yes. He had to all the time with the Snake-Man." The words, spoken so casually, made Naruto's blood run cold.

"You mean Orochimaru?" Aori, staring at the crowds in a slightly nervous manner, nodded.

"Yes, the Snake-Man. He wasn't nice." Naruto snorted, causing Aori to look at him.

"That is the understatement of the **century** Aori." She sent the blonde ninja a lukewarm glare, opening her mouth to reply. A slight tug on her yukata stopped her, and she turned, looking down to find the source. When a small smile broke onto her face, Naruto followed her gaze to find a small girl standing at Aori's feet, a girl clutching a raggedy, old doll with a sparkling necklace around her neck. Aori crouched down, and the girl backed up a little, smiling shyly.

"Well, hello again Kioko. How is Ami doing?" As Naruto watched, the girl hugged her doll tightly before replying softly.

"She's good Miss Aori." The girl, Kioko, shifted slightly, as though there was something else she wanted to say, and Aori raised an eyebrow.

"Is there something you wanted to ask, Kioko?" Kioko blushed a little.

"W-well, my friends…Th-they were wondering if you would make their dollies pretty necklaces as well…" Aori laughed slightly.

"I'd love to. Go and bring them here, alright?" Aori smiled at the pure joy that lit up Kioko's face as she nodded eagerly, then scampered off to find her friends. Aori stood up as Kioko went, smoothing her yukata and dusting a bit of dirt off of it. She felt a pair of eyes on her and turned to see Naruto looking at her with a slightly amused, slightly lonely expression in his eyes. She frowned slightly at that. Loneliness was not a usual emotion for people her age.

"Naruto?" He blinked at her questioning voice and the loneliness was gone, tucked away behind a, Aori was startled to see, figurative mask much like her own. He grinned at her.

"So, ya like the kids, huh?" Letting his hidden emotions slide for the time being, Aori nodded, a small smile on her face again.

"Yes. They are the ones who look with eyes not judging." Naruto snorted bitterly.

"Yeah, sure. Unless their parents have already filled their heads with crap…" Aori looked at the blonde in front of her sadly, feeling pain from that closed off entity inside of her as well. It would have taken much, and extremely unusual circumstances, to make a young man this bitter at the world already. It was a feeling that she herself was well used to.

Naruto shifted uncomfortably as a look of extreme sadness and…understanding…came into Aori's eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but Aori turned from him, looking down once again to find Kioko, along with ten or twelve other little girls, all of them holding dolls. He watched Aori's eyes crinkle at the corners as she bent back down to the eight year old.

"My, my Kioko. You have so many friends. I do believe I'm jealous of you." Kioko giggled at Aori's teasing, and then turned to her friends.

"It's alright you guys. Miss Aori's really nice." She turned back to Aori with a happy grin as the other little girls began to move shyly forward. Aori laughed softly holding up a finger.

"If you all will be just a little patient…" The girls watched, amazed, as Aori's hands began to glow with a soft golden chakra, and she placed them on the ground, causing six thick, dark green stems to shoot up. The young girls all gasped in unison as twelve large, shining silver flowers unfurled on the stems. As all the girls began to twitter, Naruto had to smile. It was funny, how relaxed Aori was around them, and how quickly she gained their trust.

Aori threw an unnoticed glance at Naruto, his attention focused on the plants and the twittering girls. Her eyes lit up with an idea, and she turned to the bunch of Kioko's friends, holding up her index finger to silent them.

"I'll give all your dollies pretty necklaces, but first I want you to meet a friend of mine, ok?" As all the girls nodded eagerly, Aori turned to look at Naruto, beckoning him to her with encouraging eyes. His eyes returned with a half deadly angry, half extremely uncertain look, but he stepped forward grudgingly. As soon as he moved, the attention of the girls was caught, and they went silent, knowing exactly who this was.

"M-Miss Aori…" Aori turned back to Kioko, confused by the fear in the little girl's voice.

"Kioko, what's wrong?" Kioko pointed behind Aori, and she turned to look at Naruto, seeing him looking at her with emotionless eyes. Aori turned back to Kioko.

"Kioko?" Still pointing at Naruto, Kioko answered in a stammering voice.

"Th-that's the b-bad man that Mommy says to stay away from." Her eyes widening slightly, Aori turned to look at Naruto again, seeing the slightest hint of the pain he was feeling in his eyes. Pursing her lips, Aori once again looked at the girls.

"Shame on you Kioko. What you just said wasn't nice. Uzumaki Naruto is a very nice man. He's my friend." Kioko, and all the girls, looked at Aori in awe, and one of the other girls spoke up.

"B-but Miss Aori, doesn't he try to hurt you?" Aori frowned.

"Of course not. Why would he?" The girls all shifted quietly, before another one spoke up.

"We dunno. That's just what our mommies and daddies tell us." Aori sighed.

"Well your mommies and daddies are wrong." At that all the girls began protesting, but quickly went quiet as Aori held a hand up again.

"I don't care what they tell you, I know for a fact, they are wrong. Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye, they are wrong." All the girls looked at her solemnly, and yet again, she sighed. Keeping her eyes on the girls she called out to Naruto.

"Naruto, get down here and introduce yourself please." She felt him kneel beside her, and the girls all backed up a bit.

"…Aori-

"No. I don't want to hear it." She turned her gaze to Kioko.

"Kioko, I would like you to meet my friend, Uzumaki Naruto." Kioko switched from foot to foot, and cast an uneasy glance around, but finally stepped forward, looking up at Naruto fearfully as she bowed down. As she straightened again, all the girls waited with baited breath for the man to lash out at her, hurt her in someway. They were all shocked when he gave her a soft smile, and replied in an equally soft voice.

"It is a pleasure to meet someone who looks up to Aori so. I hope that you watch her closely, and keep her out of trouble. She needs the supervision." Aori glowered and pushed him off the balance of his toes, causing him to fall on his face. All the girls jumped back a bit, but then began to giggle. As Naruto pushed himself up, more of the girls stepped forward, bowing shyly and giving him their names. Naruto reintroduced himself to every one of them.

When the introductions were done, Aori smiled happily, and called the girls attention back to her.

"There see. He's very nice, isn't he." She and a shocked Naruto watched as they nodded their heads softly.

"Well, since you did as I asked, it guess its time for your necklaces." All the girls let out a cheer as Aori waved at the plants and all the flowers flattened and dried. One by one, the girls brought their dolls forward, and one by one, they walked away with dolls with glimmering necklaces. Once the last girl had gone, Aori waved her hand at the plants, letting them sink back into the ground as she and Naruto stood up.

"Aori…" She looked over at Naruto.

"…Thanks…" Aori smiled and shrugged. She then opened her mouth to say something, but her stomach growled so loudly that Naruto could hear it. She looked at him a little sheepishly.

"Uhm. Is there anything to eat?" Smiling widely, Naruto grabbed her hand, not noticing when she tensed, and began to pull her over towards the food tables.

"Yeah, there's tons! You have to try the ramen, it's delicious!"

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Me: Tada! What did you guys think.

Sasuke: Glares I was only in the first half. And whats with the fangirl chase!

Me: ;

Naruto: Neh, Sasuke, shut up. You're just jealous because I got to spend time with Aori while you were stuck with the old hag.

Tsunade: What was that Naruto?

Naruto: Goes white Oh, Tsunade ba-chan...Did I tell you how _wonderful_ you look today?

Tsunade: Narutoooo! Chases after a now frantically running Naruto

Aori?

Sasuke: Smirk Well, now that that Usuratonkachi is taken care of... Goes to talk to Aori

Me: Ehehe... Well... See you all next chapter. Review!


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